


The Lure

by qvbit



Series: Convergence [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Androids, Angst, F/M, Gavin Reed Being an Asshole, Good Parent Hank Anderson, I DID NOT intend this to turn into a novella but like here we are, I think I have an oddly specific facial asymmetry kink, Pre-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Robot Kink, Robot Sex, Robot/Human Relationships, Romance, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, WR600s are absolute cryptids change my mind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:14:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25971958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qvbit/pseuds/qvbit
Summary: You are an AI researcher who has been temporarily assigned to assist Detroit Police, while Connor is being repaired/replaced. You've been assigned to investigate the site of a burned-down house, due to suspected deviant involvement. You discover a WR600 android there, who, although odd, you believe is not the culprit of the arson.Language warning for some f-bombs. It's basically unavoidable when both Gavin and Hank are in the story.
Relationships: Trash Collector WR600 Android (Detroit: Become Human)/Reader, WR600 Android(s) (Detroit: Become Human)/Reader
Series: Convergence [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916683
Comments: 9
Kudos: 30





	1. Cold-Start

**Author's Note:**

> My brain: Write about the garbage truck android  
> Me: But I already did a fic about a WR600  
> My brain: But he's so creepy-hot, You Gotta. Creepy. But hot. Creepy ... hot ...  
> Me: Ugh, damn you're right
> 
> [ Story playlist](%E2%80%9C)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs at the end of the chapters are just what I was listening to while writing. The drawing at the top is by me. I couldn't get that interrogation scene from my head so ... 💁

### Sunday November 7th

You lurched forward in your seat as Hank pulled the car up with a screech and stopped the siren. 

“Jesus,” you said under your breath. 

The ring of sirens came to a sudden stop, disorienting you for a moment. 

You’d never expected to end up here. You felt way out of your depth racing to a crime scene at breakneck speed in the passenger seat of Hank’s ancient car. 

You’d received a report of an android being spotted on the property after reports of a fire. Those two things led Hank to suppose the android committed the arson. The next thing you knew you were being whisked away to the scene. Connor had been destroyed on a previous job, and was in the process of having his memories transferred to a new body. Hank had said it like it was just a normal thing that happened all the time. Blasé as ever. 

Contrarily, you were green as ever. You were no officer, and no investigator. You’d just published some studies on deviance in androids, and Hank had asked for you in Connor’s absence. The morning you’d started, you’d realised most of the DPD did not share your views on how deviant androids should be treated. You were thankful your contract was only short. 

Hank, haggard as ever, opened the door and climbed out. “Come on, follow me,” he said, beckoning for you to come along. After centering yourself, you climbed out and tailed him through the gap in the wire fence. The three officers before you had already cut the lock open and made their way inside. The rain was steady and heavy. It wouldn’t be long before it started snowing, you thought. You followed Hank up the long driveway. 

The place looked positively haunted - the drive was encased in a tunnel of huge gnarled trees, leading up the hill and ending in a large wrought iron gate. The officers ahead of you waited there, guns at the ready. When you reached them, one of them gave Hank a nod to signify the site was clear. 

There was no house anymore, only a bald spot on the crest of the shallow hill, black and wounded, with jagged protrusions of burned wood and brick. Parts of it were still smoking. The rain must have extinguished the flames before they could reach any further. It was lucky - the site of the house was surrounded by readymade kindling: a mess of long dry grass, low brambly bushes and vines, melting into gray trees towards the perimeter. It was wild, overrun. 

Hank jerked his head sideways at you, beckoning you to follow him into the rubble. You could see evidence of fresh footprints, more than one set. 

“Hank, you said there was only one android sighted here.”

He looked back at you. “Two sets of prints. I know. Curiouser and curiouser, huh,” he said, stepping gingerly over a broken chandelier. You stood still, scanning over the site, wondering how long it would take for the rain to fully extinguish the coals. 

“C‘mere.” He’d found something. You hurried over, and he gestured to the ground. 

“Look at all this. Hundreds of documents. On _real_ paper. Waterlogged, but I think if we dry ‘em out we’ll be able to read some of ‘em.”

“Someone’s gone through them recently,” you said. 

“No shit. Filing cabinet’s right there. Drawer's wrenched right off - android work I’ll bet you. Even with a heat-weakened lock, no human would be able to do that.”

You nodded. “So … what are the documents?”

Hank squinted at them, trying to make out the blotched ink. “Receipts. Merchant receipts. Zlatko Andronikov. Purveyor of second-hand androids. Not direct to consumers. Looks like he sold to suppliers, middle-men.” 

“So … there _were_ androids here. He was restoring them?” 

Hank nodded. “Yep. And I guess one, or more, went deviant, cracked, committed arson. I'm assuming the footprints are from them, and the filing cabinet, obviously. But what made them want to come back after they’d burned the place? _Sentiment_?” He scoffed. 

One of the other officers signaled to Hank. “Over here!”

Hank strode over. “What is it?”

“We found a sub-level. Basement or cellar or something.”

He grunted and looked down into the rubble-filled hole. It looked like it had been a staircase at some point. “Alright, let’s get it cleared out, I’ll take a look.”

While the basement was cleared out, you gathered whatever intact documents you could from the filing cabinet and put them in your bag. You could look through them later - they were full of serial numbers. 

Hank beckoned you over to the basement entrance. Your heart sped up a little. He gave you a wry grin. “Not scared, are ya?”

“No! Okay, a bit.”

He laughed. “Come on, it’ll be fine. Anything moves and I’ll shoot it.”

You nodded and followed him down. Dust and ash loosened and fell from above with every footstep. You were so far out of your comfort zone. You emerged into a wide hallway, with a dirt floor. It almost looked like a prison; on one side there were cells fronted with iron bars. You stopped by one and peered inside. There was nothing but still, cold darkness. As you ventured further from the entrance, the hall became darker. Hank turned his phone torch on, and you did the same. Once you reached the end of the hallway, it was completely dark except for the cold white beams of your torches. You followed him through a doorway, and he shone his light around. You were in a large room, scattered with destroyed robotics equipment. There was a hydraulic stand that looked a lot like one of the assembly machines at Cyberlife, but altered. A vodka bottle was smashed on the floor. There was a mess of cables and computer monitors against the far wall, but they all looked dead. 

“Huh,” Hank said as he looked around the room. “Not weird at all.”

“You’re being sarcastic,” you replied, pacing the perimeter. 

He nodded gruffly. “None of this is illegal, but it creeps me out. If an android set this fire, they might’ve been justified. Don’t mention to anyone that I said that.”

You nodded. “No, I agree. Something about those cells.” 

“I bet if Connor was here he’d be telling me there’s blue blood all over the walls ... the guy can see that shit even after it’s dried, like shining a black-light in a crusty motel room,” he scoffed. You cringed at the thought. 

Something caught your eye - on the desk with the broken computers, there was a small device that looked a little like an old phone. “Hank … come here.” 

“What is it?”

“Look.” You picked the device up and switched it on. The screen came to life - it looked like a radar, or some kind of tracker. There was a dot to mark the current location, and then a triangle just south of it that was moving slightly. 

Hank peered at the screen. “If that blip is anything, it’s gotta be an android. Let’s see if we can find it.”

You nodded and he shoved the tracker into your hands. You tapped the triangle, just to see if anything happened. A text box popped up - Yuri, WR600, it read. You rushed up the stairs, Hank following behind. He panted some orders at the other officers, and they all headed south into the dense bushes and sea of gray, bare trees. You jogged behind them, tracker in hand. 

The triangle on screen looked like it was moving fast. You knew androids had a lot of strength and stamina, more than humans by a long shot. You slowed down, feeling your energy dwindling. The officers ahead of you disappeared into the thick brush and vines. They might be able to catch up to him if they caught him at the wire fence bordering the property. If not, by the time they got in their cars to chase him, he would have disappeared into the back blocks. You slowed to a stop, panting. Ahead, you heard a struggle taking place, but you couldn’t see a thing. You peered into the bushes intently, craning your neck, trying to see what was happening. Hank caught up to you. “What the _hell_ is going on in there?”

You shook your head in astonishment.

Eventually the officers emerged. Two of them were holding a struggling android. Though his uniform was badly damaged and dirty, you could tell from his build and his face that he was a WR600 like the tracker had said. He was as wild as the bushes he’d been torn from, arms tangled in vines, presumably that he’d accumulated on him by trying to climb the fence, which had been overtaken by them. His hair, like yours and Hank’s, was plastered to his head from the rain, making him look grim and emaciated. His left arm, which one officer was forcing into a handcuff, was very damaged, wires hanging off of it. Still, he struggled as if it wasn't. As he passed you, you saw his face clearly, and his eyes met yours briefly, expression a mix of deadly calm and pleading. You watched him as he was forced into the police car. Although his haunting gaze unsettled you, you couldn’t take your eyes off him. The tracker vibrated in your hand, like it was giving off a distress signal.

You turned to Hank, jaw slightly dropped, body limp and clothes damp from the rain. He looked back at you, and by the expression on his face, he was equally bewildered. 

You followed the police cars, at the end of the convoy, sitting in silence next to Hank, rain pelting hard on the roof. You peered out the window. The houses around here were all huge, and interspersed with wild empty blocks. The large houses turned to apartments and then to skyscrapers s you drove back through downtown towards the river, and the bunker-like DPD building. People on the sidewalk stared at you, at the procession of police cars. You felt self conscious - you weren’t used to being looked at like that. Hank noticed your uneasiness. He shrugged. “You get used to it eventually. Can’t blame people for being curious.”

You nodded, choosing to stare out the front window instead of out onto the sidewalk. At least that way you wouldn’t be able to see if people were ogling you. You weren’t sure if that was any better either, though, because as soon as you turned your eyes towards the police car in front of you, you saw a dim face turn to you. It was Yuri, in the back seat, turning round to peer back at you. You lowered your eyes. 

* * *

You stood in the dim light of the observation room, watching Hank try, and fail, to extract something from Yuri from behind the one-way mirror. Gavin stood beside you, eyes narrowed, face lit by the light entering from the other room, the rest of him shrouded in darkness. He leaned towards you and muttered through his teeth. “Look at that thing. There’s no life behind those eyes.” 

You crossed your arms. “I’m not going in there with a bias.”

“I’m not trying to bias you. He’s _objectively_ dead inside. You know there’s just elevator music in there.”

You scoffed. “Okay, very funny.”

After about fifteen minutes Hank gave up questioning. He shot a withering look through the glass. You knew from his side that he could only see his reflection, but the look on his face was directed at you and Gavin. Gavin looked over at you, and you glanced back at him wryly. 

“He’s gonna ask you next,” Gavin said. “Grill that fucker for me.”

You chuckled and made air quotes with your fingers. “Do I look like the ‘bad cop’ to you?”

“At least _try_ and do better than Hank, he’s gone soft. Stress that thing out. At least if you get nothing out of it, it’ll give us some amusement by bashing its head open on the table.”

_“What?!”_

Gavin shrugged. “Happened to the last one.”

“You think that’s funny?”

He laughed. “It’s a fuckin’ joke, alright?” 

Hank emerged and beckoned you in. “Your turn. Good luck getting anything. The last guy was the same, it took a dose of Connor to get something out of him.”

“I’m no RK800, but I’ll do my best.” 

“Don’t worry too much. It’s a Sunday so I don’t give a shit. We wouldn’t even be working if it wasn’t for that call.”

You took a deep breath and stepped out of the observation room, into the vestibule, and opened the interrogation room door cautiously, silently asking permission to enter. Yuri looked up at you apprehensively, unlike with Hank, whose presence had seen his eyes remain trained intently on his handcuffed wrists. You approached slowly, and sat down opposite him. The light was a little brighter in here than in the observation room, but it was still cruel and cold. It cast over the android harshly, cheekbones like knives, mouth in an involuntary downturn. It made you think the light was positioned by design, to make the subject look guilty … or maybe it was designed to make the interrogator look intimidating. 

Your gaze wandered down to his damaged hand briefly, and then you looked him in the eye. His own gaze didn’t falter at all; he kept looking right back at you. It unnerved you, not just because he was making unwavering eye contact. You tried not to let yours fall. 

Start with the name, you told yourself. “Your name is Yuri, is that right?”

He kept staring at you. 

“I did some research on that name. I already know that it’s Russian, like Zlatko, the owner of the property we found you on. I thought maybe you were named after Yuri Gagarin, he was the first man in space … but then, I found out that it means farmer … or earth worker. Clever of him, I thought, considering the purpose of your model.” You chuckled. “The English version of your name is … George. I think I prefer Yuri. It’s a little more mysterious.” 

Still nothing, not a flicker of amusement. Eyes like hazy pools too muddy to see the bottom of.

“What happened to your arm? There was more than one set of footprints there, was there a struggle, is that how you damaged it?”

He didn’t speak, but his eyes moved a little, looking over your face.

“There’s evidence Zlatko kept a lot of androids at his house. Did they get caught in the fire? How’d you get away?”

Silence.

“Do you know anything about Zlatko?”

You were sure Hank and Gavin were shaking their heads at you behind the glass right now. 

But then, he spoke. 

“I watched him as he turned to ash.”

Your stomach churned. You leaned in and pressed him. “ _Did you set the fire?_ ”

He stayed quiet, but his expression grew shrewd, eyes narrowed. You realized now what had made you so uncomfortable about his gaze. His right eye was just slightly higher than the left, like the faceplate under his skin had been broken or dented. You weren’t able to tell which was the damaged side - there was no scarring or evidence of the skin being broken, there was no obvious trauma to the eye or its surroundings. There was only asymmetry. 

You suspected this man, Zlatko, had done some tinkering behind there somewhere.

“If you don’t give them something better than that, they’ll destroy you as soon as I walk out of here.” 

He blinked slowly, and it made you want to recoil. “Then let them.” 

You frowned in confusion. You hadn’t expected that response from a deviant.

“What does it matter to you?” His voice and face were calm, but there was that desperate look in his eyes again, and his LED was bright red. 

You turned to the one-way mirror, your reflection shadowed and cold, eyes nothing but glints from the fluorescent light, shrouded in blackness. You hardly recognized yourself. You saw Yuri’s head turn slowly to face it too, and make eye contact with you in the reflection, skeletal. You knew Hank and Gavin were watching closely behind it. You had to choose your actions carefully. You looked back at Yuri. 

You knew Hank had warmed to androids, he certainly seemed to have warmed to Connor. You hoped Hank would see where you were coming from, despite Yuri’s vaguely unsettling nature. You would try your best to explain to him that early models like him didn’t have the human interaction skills that Connor had. Casually you drummed your fingers on the table. To anyone untrained, it was nothing, just fidgeting, but to someone who knew, or an android with a fast processor, it was Morse code. _Want 2 help_ , you tapped out. 

You detected the slightest cocking of the head and narrowing of the eyes. 

“I didn’t set the fire,” he said, voice flat and cool. 

You leaned in. “You’ll have to give me more than that.”

He blinked at you. “I came back. To try to help. I saw the smoke.”

“To help who? Zlatko?”

He shook his head. 

“... Then _who_?”

His gaze lowered again, for the first time since it had met yours. You knew that was all you’d get. You looked back into the silvered glass, hoping your gaze met Hank’s. You wouldn’t let this android be destroyed yet. He had a lot more to say, you were so sure of it, and with the damage to his arm, and whatever Zlatko did behind his face, you couldn't help but have sympathy for him. 

A moment later, Gavin appeared with two other officers. He stood in the doorway while they grabbed Yuri roughly, and escorted him out of the room. You got up and followed them to the holding cell. 

Gavin stood in front of the cell door, blocking it. “I’ll take it from here.” He grabbed Yuri’s damaged arm and wrenched him from the officers, shoving him into the cell. The android stumbled backwards, straightened up, and returned swiftly to the glass, eyeing Gavin off. 

You noticed Gavin recoil a little, and then hastily try to hide it, trying to maintain dominance. “The hell are you looking at, you fuckin’ toaster?” he sneered. 

Yuri said nothing. Gavin gave him one more snide glare before stalking off. You stayed behind. You approached the cell slowly. You couldn’t help but be intrigued by this odd android. You lifted a hand, slowly, cautiously, and placed it on the glass. He stood still for a moment, and then mirrored you, placing the tips of his fingers in line with your own. You watched him intently. His LED flickered yellow for a moment, and then, suddenly, he withdrew. Hank had appeared behind you. 

He grabbed you by the shoulder. “I gotta talk to you outside, now.” 

You followed him out, onto a raised platform that overlooked the river. It was still bleak outside, but not raining anymore. There was a large, deep puddle in the middle of the platform where the concrete sagged. He threw up his hands. “Morse code? Are you fuckin’ kidding me? As if you think I wouldn’t pick that up.”

“Actually, it wasn’t you I was concerned about, it was Gavin.”

“Well, either way, dumb move, kid,” he said, pacing up to the puddle and kicking at the edge of it, causing ripples to form in the dirty water. 

“You know Gavin just wants that android destroyed. And you _also_ know that he has way more information than he’s letting on. I just need _time_!”

* * *

 _Tell that the sun is sleeping_ _  
__Why can't you see the smoke_ _  
__Hide, cover all your feelings_ _  
__Run to your broken self_

 _Keep the focus you're about to fall_ _  
__It's an endless hole_ _  
__Take a small step forward_ _  
__Try to push you but there's no way home_ _  
__Have to keep control_ _  
__Of the place you stand on_

 _Hear, all the wolves are whispering_ _  
__Feel that the sin is near_ _  
__Fight, try to do some damage_ _  
__Run, there's no looking back_

The Sin Is Near | Bang Gang + Bloodgroup


	2. Under the Curve

### Monday, November 8th

You arrived at nine that morning, and, as usual, Hank wasn’t in yet. This time, though, you were happy about it - it was a good time to leave him a nice surprise. You approached his messy desk and pulled the whiskey bottle out of your bag. You found a post-it and scrawled a note on it: _Thanks. Don’t drink all of it at once._ You pinned it down under the bottle and sat down at your own desk. It was really Connor’s desk, but you had it for the time being. It was impeccably neat - he didn’t have personal belongings, and he didn’t eat or drink, so it made sense for it to be pristine. You tried to keep it that way. You wondered briefly how long it would take Cyberlife to finish working on him. You hoped not before you could close the case on Yuri. 

You scrolled through the case files. They’d seized everything they could from the site. The paper documents had been scanned, and they’d taken the tracker off you. They’d also recovered as many digital files as they could get their hands on from the broken computers in the basement.

There were records for hundreds of androids that had all been restored and re-sold by Zlatko, all now marked by Detroit Police as defective and potentially dangerous. You certainly had your work cut out for you. You checked the time. It felt like it had been hours, but it had only been ten minutes. There was still no sign of Hank, and there wouldn’t be until after eleven, you were sure. 

You got up and walked to the holding cells. The first one housed a gaunt looking man who was asleep on the floor. You wondered what he’d done - you took a guess that he’d probably just been high or drunk in public. You’d seen people get stopped for less, just for looking scrappy. Yuri was in the second cell. You peered in. They hadn’t done anything to his arm or cleaned his clothes. You shook your head. Why would they have? He was standing, eyes closed, stock still, LED dark and translucent. On standby, maybe? You tapped lightly on the glass, and his eyelids fluttered open. He looked at you with a glimmer of recognition in his eyes. You beckoned for him to come forward, and he obliged. He peered out at you silently. 

“Is your arm causing you any pain?”

Yuri looked down at it, and then back up at you. You didn’t know why you expected a reply. You leaned in closer and looked him right in the eyes, just how he was staring at you. His uncanny gaze put you on edge, but you persevered. 

“You said you’d help,” he finally spoke. 

“I’m _trying_. I just bought you some more time. But that means you need to talk to me. If you don’t, the guy I’m covering for will just probe your memory. Is that what you want?”

His LED cycled yellow. 

“I’m organizing another interrogation for later today. Whenever my boss gets here, which is … fuck, I don’t know. It’ll just be him and me. No Gavin. No one will call you names or try to spit on you.”

“I’d like a new arm.”

You sighed. Was he bargaining? You supposed you’d just made a dirty deal with Hank, why was it any worse for him to try? You did feel bad, looking at how broken it was. He could hardly move the fingers on it. “So it _is_ bothering you. Fine. I’ll have one by the time of the interrogation. Hope it’s worth it - I’m already sticking my neck out here.”

You got back to the carpark just as Hank arrived. He pulled into the parking spot next to yours and opened the door. “Where the hell are you going?”

“I’ll be less than twenty minutes, I’m just running down the road. Look, I need to set up another interrogation as soon as I get back. _Without_ Gavin. I think I might have something, but Yuri won’t talk if he knows Gavin’s there.”

“Sure, sure. As long as you have what I asked for.”

“It’s on your desk.”

“I’ll make it for ten.”

* * *

You rushed back into the main office, a Cyberlife bag swinging off your shoulder. Hank gave you a nod, and got up, making his way towards Yuri’s holding cell. 

“Thanks. I promise, I know what I’m doing … I think,” you said. 

Hank opened the cell door. “Go on, it’s all yours.” He gestured to Yuri. 

You looked back at him, perplexed. 

“You wanted this interrogation, it’s your responsibility to get the damn thing to the interrogation room.”

You sighed. “Okay, you’re right.” You stepped inside and knelt in front of Yuri, who was sitting calmly on the bench. You cuffed him, clumsily, but gently. You worked up the courage to look up at him. He was already staring down at you. You stood up. “Come on.”

He got up and followed you back to the interrogation room. Hank sat in the observation room, and you walked in with Yuri, who sat down opposite you, his face transforming into something sinister again under the cold light. You pulled the new arm out of your bag and put it on the table in front of him. He looked at it, and then up at you. You looked at the one-way mirror, sure Hank was shaking his head at you right now. Yuri held his hands out to you. 

“Don’t try anything,” you said through gritted teeth. You uncuffed him. He removed the broken arm deftly and replaced it with an indifference that surprised you, with not even a grimace or a flinch. Instead it was you that grimaced, and flinched. 

He noticed your reaction, and narrowed his eyes. “It bothers you.”

You had to admit it did, a little bit. “You got your deal. I had a look at the files, there are more than a hundred other androids relying on you for their freedom. If you don’t give me something, I can’t stop whatever is going to happen to them, no matter how much I want to,” you said.

He hung his head. So, maybe there was some compassion behind that impassive gaze after all. 

“I am sure you know Zlatko repaired androids so he could resell them.”

“I know that part. So where and how were you involved?”

He hung his head again, and clenched his fists. You leaned in. It was obvious he’d been a part of it. His LED flashed red. 

“Yuri, talk to me.”

“I didn’t burn down the house,” he repeated.

“Okay, then _who_ _did?_ ”

His face twisted into a pained expression. You leaned back to give him space. You desperately wanted to say you were sorry for upsetting him, but you couldn’t let up just yet. 

“He experimented on us.” 

“Zlatko?”

Yuri nodded. “He didn’t sell all of us.”

“What did he do to you?”

He fell silent. You knew you wouldn’t be able to go further down that path. You backtracked. 

“Where were you when the fire started?”

“I was … out.” His face was characteristically unexpressive, but you could see a flicker of a pained expression pass over it - a slight furrow of his brows, a twitch in the corner of his mouth. 

“So the house was burning when you got there. How did you know? What happened? Who did you see?”

“I was too late. No one was there.”

“So they escaped, or …”

“None of them had trackers. Zlatko wanted to keep them all a secret.”

“ _You_ have a tracker, Yuri. I saw it. So what’s the truth?”

“None of them, except me.”

“And why are you different? Something isn’t adding up here. Were you involved in sourcing the androids for him? Did you steal parts from the landfill?”

He was silent again. 

“Let’s assume they escaped. That doesn’t rule out them for setting the fire.” 

Yuri leaned in. “No matter how much you want to help us, you are still on their side. As long as you are working here, you are working for them, and they want to vindicate humans and destroy us.” 

“I don’t think they’re looking to let Zlatko off. He’s dead, Yuri.” 

He gave you an odd look, both pleading and disbelieving at the same time. He was right. No matter what you did, androids would always be the scapegoats here. Police never changed. _People_ never changed. Power never changed. Androids were just a new category of fall guys to lay the blame on. At a loss, you gave him a brief nod, got up, and left the room. 

“Hank, he’s totally right, I’m not cut out for this job.” 

Hank threw his arms up in the air in frustration. “You were _just_ getting somewhere! You should’ve kept pressing.” 

“That’s the thing. I couldn’t. You heard what he said, and you know he’s right.”

He shrugged. “He’s trying to manipulate you. You _know_ these androids are sly.”

“Maybe an AP700, but this is a WR600 we’re talking about. What you see is what you get. If he doesn’t tell me something, it’s because he can’t comprehend it any better than you or I, it’s not because he’s bluffing. Not every android has an ulterior motive. Some are just as lost as us.” 

Hank chuckled, casting his eyes off into the distance. You could tell he was about to give you a Connor analogy. “You’re right. Connor asked me the other day why Gavin asked him to make a coffee for him, and when he brought it to him, Gavin just … walked away. He had _no_ idea. Sarcasm goes right over his head.”

You sighed. Hank leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. “You and Connor would’ve worked well together.”

“Well, I had no plans of being a cop, or a detective, so, sorry to disappoint.”

“Let’s get a coffee. Come on.”

You nodded reluctantly, and glanced in at Yuri. He was sitting up straight, hands clasped, eyes shut. Hank got up. “I’ll take him back. You make the joe, okay?”

“Sure.”

The break room was empty except for Gavin. He smiled at you when you entered. You weren’t ready for this. You tried to look enthusiastic. “Hey, good to see you!”

“You too. Heard you managed to make that android talk after all. How did you do it?”

You fired up the coffee machine and slid two cups under it. “Turns out, if you’re actually nice to them, they’ll tell you stuff. You should try it.”

“You bribed it didn’t you. What do you AI people call it? Game theory. The guy creeps me out. I mean, even more than a regular robot, like real uncanny valley shit. No way it’d just talk to you. It always looks like its gears are grinding on some fucked up shit. If you know what I mean. I’d watch out.”

You turned around. “No, Gavin, I don’t know what you mean.”

“Just don’t sympathize too much. God, you’re so green.”

“Yeah, but did I get info?”

Gavin rolled his eyes, just as Hank entered the room. “Go on, I gotta have a private talk.” He shooed Gavin out, and you had to stifle a laugh. Gavin glared at him as he left. Hank took his place at the table and tutted at you. “I’d watch out around Gavin.”

You laughed. “He just said that to me. About Yuri.”

“He likes you. Gavin, I mean. Yuri, uh ... I think he just hates you _slightly_ less than everyone else.”

“Great. I’m flattered,” you said flatly.

“I see your expression doesn’t match your words.” Hank grinned. “Thanks for the coffee.” He pulled a flask out of his pocket and poured some of the contents into his cup. 

You grimaced. “Seriously?”

He shrugged. “Takes the edge off. Either that or it’s hair of the dog. Depends on the day. And the night before.”

You shut your eyes and massaged your temples. 

“Look, if you press just a _bit_ more, he’ll crack. He looks like he’s about to break, I could see it. He was stone fuckin’ cold until just now. Next time you go in there, forget you’re you. Be an asshole. You’re playing a part, it’s not the real you. Remember that.”

You sighed. “Can’t you just hold him until Connor gets back?”

Hank hung his head. “Give it _one_ more go for me tomorrow. Then if you can’t crack him, I’ll leave him for Connor.”

You took a long swig of coffee. “Alright, okay.”

* * *

 _Hallways I see_ _  
__Always icy_ _  
__Open rooms_ _  
__Contra-zooms_

 _Pictures may_ _  
__Faces may_ _  
__Fade away_

 _Brothers then_ _  
__Get close to them_ _  
__Step outside_ _  
__Gunmetal sky_ _  
__Peel away_ _  
__Children play_ _  
__Fade away_  
 _Where's the scars_ _  
Fade away_

Name Taken | Massive Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise, the fuckening will happen. But it's gotta be a slow burn, ya feel? Plus, I love writing Hank and Gavin's characters, I Can't Help It


	3. Abnormal Termination

You couldn’t sleep that night. The beginning of the evening, you’d drifted in and out of strange dreams - Yuri crawling out of the ashes of the house, the vines that had covered him becoming one with the wires that spilled from his broken arm, growing inside of him, growing … growing around your own wrists, like the handcuffs he’d been forced into, and winding around your ankles, tripping you over, and then you were falling, falling towards the hole in the ground that led to Zlatko’s basement. You jerked awake, feeling your legs kick instinctively, trying to catch your balance again. It took a moment for you to realize you were still safe in bed, tangled in sheets that were a little damp from sweat. Now wide awake, and a little afraid of going back to sleep, you tossed and turned, possible scenarios running through your head like scenes from a film. What if you said _that_ ? Then Yuri might do _this_ , or _that_ , or … your eyelids just wouldn’t close, and ironically, it exhausted you to try. You sat up in bed, and rubbed your eyes. The apartment was awash with a mix of gray and orange light, from the moon and streetlights. It cast eerie shadows on your ceiling, and a strange glow over the kitchen and living room below. The occasional whoosh of a car reached your ears, tires against wet asphalt. You got up, and climbed down the precarious loft stairs to the kitchen. You turned the light on, blinking as your eyes adjusted. Then, blearily, you started up the coffee machine and grabbed your tablet. If you couldn’t sleep, at least you could make use of the time and brainstorm. You leaned against the counter and typed out everything you’d learned about Yuri so far. 

  * _Quiet and reluctant to speak_


  * Facial asymmetry indicating possible experimentation


  * On site at time of police arrival, signs of other people/androids, now nowhere to be found


  * Broken arm


  * WR600 model still in uniform


  * Possibly collected android parts from landfill using false identity as a recycling android - would explain uniform


  * Seems to care about fellow androids owned by Zlatko


  * Got distress call when the fire happened?


  * Was too late, no sign of other android remains at the site


  * Didn’t see who set the fire


  * Insistent that it wasn’t other experiment subjects



You hesitated, hands shaking a little as you typed the last point: 

  * _Watched Zlatko burn._



The coffee machine whirred expectantly. You grabbed your cup from inside it and grimaced as the bitter taste touched your dry tongue. You looked up WR600s to jog your memory on their programming. Cyberlife’s sales site listed the basics: an older model released in 2031 and manufactured between then and 2036. He must have been seven years old, at most. It felt so strange to think of Yuri that way. He seemed ageless, with the fresh face of someone in their mid to late twenties, just a little older than you, and yet his eyes had the glint of someone that had seen years of pain. 

Detroit had bought five thousand of them to maintain their parks, as well as many more to do other jobs in that vein, like urban farming and recycling collection. Their social programming was rudimentary - enough for them to get by, but not on the same level as the newer household models. However, they were programmed with keen attention to detail, knowledge of botany, basic ecology and green infrastructure. As for their build, while they looked slight, they were robust enough to handle electric pruning saws and lug around wheelbarrows of fertilizer. You assumed, like most of their designs that were intended to work amongst members of the public, Cyberlife created the WR600s a little smaller than the average human man on purpose so they would melt into the background and not be too intimidating. You chuckled to yourself. The fragility of human masculinity knew no bounds - to feel so threatened by a robot that they had to be purposely designed to be smaller. You closed the browser. 

How had Yuri fallen into Zlatko’s hands? Was he taken from the landfill, or snatched from some park somewhere? You closed your eyes, and pictured laying on a gurney in the basement of Zlatko’s house, the mysterious man himself reaching towards your face with a gloved hand. You shook the thought out of your head and gripped the edge of the counter in frustration.

“Fuck it,” you said, and went back upstairs to get dressed. You weren’t sure exactly what you were going to do. You just knew you had to see him, right now, while nobody was in the office. That way there would be no pressure from Hank, or Gavin, or anyone. You could do things your way.

* * *

You drove through the night, streetlights making shadows move in strange ways inside the car as it moved. There was hardly anyone else out. The occasional car passed by, a beacon of life in the darkness as you passed through the deserted empty parking lots and open vacant blocks of Atwater Street, the Renaissance Center rising like a huge spacecraft in the distance. It loomed closer and closer, until you passed it. The thought of letting him escape crossed your mind briefly. After what he’d said to you, it was an appealing idea. It would certainly make him trust you. Actually, it was a terrible idea. You blamed it on your lack of sleep. You turned into the parking garage, pulled into a spot, and entered the building. 

There was a security android patrolling the foyer. You held up your temporary pass. “Sorry, I forgot something really important. I’ve been laying awake all night worrying about it, I had to come and get it.” you said, holding your other hand behind your back to hide the fact that you were crossing your fingers so hard that your knuckles had surely turned white. 

The android just nodded at you. “Please come through, but be aware that there is no one patrolling inside the offices at this time. If you have any trouble, call this number and one of us will come and find you straight away.” Her LED flashed and you felt your phone vibrate - she’d passed you an emergency phone number. 

“Thanks!” you replied, trying not to look too relieved. 

You went to your desk and rummaged round a bit, trying to defer some suspicion. Then, quietly, you made your way to the holding cells. The gaunt, scruffy looking man was still there, sleeping. You breathed in deeply, trying to prepare yourself, and then stepped in front of Yuri’s cell. 

He was gone. 

Incredulous, you peered into the cell, squinting into the dark corners, hoping that you’d see some shadow of him. He was really, truly, gone. Your heart skipped a beat, and then started to pound at double time. You turned around, looking for any sign of movement. In the dark, shadows tricked you. Black moved against black, dim shapes shifting where there was nothing at all. You thought about calling the emergency number and alerting security, before stopping yourself. If they caught him, he was done for, and you’d get no more information.

You needed to think. You wondered whether Hank would be awake. In a moment of desperation, you pulled out your phone. You couldn’t call him here, it would alert security. You made your way outside, thanking the patrolling android as confidently as you could on the way out. You strode out of the foyer and down the concrete steps towards the river. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck _fuck!_ ” you whispered to yourself. You reached the river’s edge and dialled Hank. The phone rang out - no answer. You tried again, to no avail. Your breath was loud and fast now. You put a hand over your mouth to try and cover the sound, just in case he was close to you, listening. Nothing. You gripped the cold metal railing and peered out over the water. Peaks of tiny ripples glinted white in the moonlight. Where there was shadow, the water was like obsidian. You tried to calm yourself. You knew Hank would help you tackle it tomorrow … whenever he woke up. 

You felt a hand on your shoulder. 

Reeling, you tore your hands from the railing and whipped around. There, standing over you in the almost-darkness, was Yuri. You had no defense - no gun, not even a taser. You were fairly sure that if you tried to go at him with fists, you’d break your own fingers rather than his nose. You pushed him back as hard as you could with both hands. “Stay the _fuck_ away from me!”

He moved back, but didn’t stumble. He was as steady as ever, and you could tell his eyes were locked on yours, even though they were shrouded in shadow. His LED was yellow - it was the only light other than the screen of your phone, and the reflection of moonlight bouncing off the concrete beneath your feet. You saw a flicker of an expression you couldn’t quite define passing over his face. 

He said nothing, so you spoke. “ _How did you get out_?” Your voice was shaking, no matter how unafraid you tried to sound. 

You didn’t know what you expected. Silence was his reply, as usual. 

“What do you _want_?” you tried. 

Still nothing. 

“If you don’t answer, I’m calling security.”

“... I need your help.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, breath still shallow. “Okay, first of all, you scared the shit out of me.”

He said nothing. 

“Secondly, I still don’t entirely trust you. And third, where the hell am I supposed to take you?”

He shook his head. “I … don’t know, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Look, I know you probably don’t know this so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, but rule number one of interacting with humans - coming up behind them in absolute silence, and putting your hand on their shoulder, is _terrifying_.”

He continued to stare at you, unfazed. You didn’t know what to say next. You couldn’t let him just escape and run away, but you knew if you tried to get him back into the cell, he’d own you. There was no way you’d beat him in a struggle. 

He took a step towards you. You tried to back away, but there was nowhere to go. Behind you was the railing, and then the river. 

His brow furrowed, ever so slightly. “Please.”

You breathed a sigh of relief and straightened back up. “You want help, fine. Come with me. No funny business. If you disappear on me, there’ll be a search warrant for you first thing tomorrow.”

He didn’t nod, or give you any kind of affirmation. You sighed. There wasn’t much else you could do - if he didn’t follow, you’d just keep your word and file a warrant, as much as you didn’t want to. You began to walk back to your car. 

You reached the parking lot, and found your car. You opened the back door for Yuri. You didn’t want him sitting in the front with you, not after he’d scared you so much. He climbed in, and you followed suit, starting the car. 

“I can’t fucking believe I’m doing this. I cannot. Believe. I’m doing this,” you said under your breath as you drove out of the car park, Yuri sitting silently in the back seat. 

You drove back down Atwater Street. Every so often, you glanced in the rear view mirror at Yuri, streetlights casting the same weird shadows on his face as they had on the empty seat on your drive over. When light did pass over him, it was monochrome, his blonde hair, sallow skin, and uniform all cast in the same sickly shade of yellow-green. 

You pulled into your garage, got out, and opened the back door cautiously. He climbed out. 

“Where are we?” he asked. 

“Literally the only place I could think of that won’t get us both immediately killed, and-or, arrested.”

Yuri looked at you. “Come on, let’s go.” You walked to the elevator and he followed after a moment of hesitation. You couldn’t help being unnerved at the way his shoes made no sound on the hard concrete floor. You sighed as you pressed the button for your floor. “God, where do we go from here …” You shut your eyes, trying to think. 

“Up.”

You opened your eyes and squinted at Yuri. “Sorry, _what_?”

“You asked, where do we go - we are on the lowest level, so we go up.”

“I …” in your nervousness, you couldn’t help but laugh. 

Yuri frowned at you, confused. 

You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose exasperatedly. “I didn’t mean it that way. I know how to get to my own apartment.”

You turned to face the doors. You could feel his eyes on you, even as you stared intently at the bottom of the left elevator door. It felt like an eternity before you heard a ding, and the elevator slowed to a stop on your floor. 

“Okay, come on.” you beckoned him out of the elevator and down the hall. You unlocked your apartment and let him in after you. You turned the lights on, and cast your eyes around the flat, looking for anything you might be able to use against him if he turned on you. Kitchen knives - if you went for his eyes with one you might manage to slow him down. You prayed that you wouldn’t end up needing to do it. Yuri stood calmly behind you, as if waiting for you to give an order. 

“Sit down,” you said, after some deliberation. You pointed at the small dining table by the window. “You stay there, and I’m staying here. For now.” You positioned yourself behind the kitchen island, like it would offer you some kind of protection. Yuri walked over to the table and sat down slowly, facing you, eyes boring into yours even from all the way across the room. You leaned on the counter, arms tense, hands gripping the cold edge of it. “What do you want?” you finally asked. 

“I want to finish what I was doing.”

“What? You mean before we found you? Taking parts from the landfill?”

“No. Finding the others.”

“Zlatko’s other androids?”

He nodded. His steely facade dropped, and his face softened, just a little. You hated to admit that you felt a pang of sympathy. This mysterious Zlatko, every time you mentioned his name, Yuri had some kind of reaction. You got the feeling that he had been a very cruel person. He looked up at you cautiously. “You’re not scared anymore.”

You breathed in, your gaze lowering. You were still a little afraid. You looked back up at him. “Not as much as I was. Not now you’re talking with me. Why don’t you start from the beginning? How did Zlatko get his hands on you?”

He took in a deep breath. “I was hurt. He said he would help me. I should have been less trusting. He took me to the basement where he said he’d remove my tracking. He wiped my memory. I just … believed him.”

Yuri’s shoulders hunched again, and he drove his head into his hands, fingers gripping at his hair. When he looked up again, his eyes were welling up with tears. If there was one thing you had never seen, it was an android crying. It was so unlike the human equivalent in some ways, and so similar in others - tears formed, brows furrowed, and yet his chest didn’t heave for breath like yours did when you cried. Despite the tears, he was doing his best to retain his usual impassive air. 

Your heart hurt for him. Before, he’d seemed so dangerous, but now all you felt was pity. 

“How do you remember that, then? If he wiped you?”

“He had my memories backed up. I got them back.”

“And these other androids … why do you want to help them so much?”

He blinked the tears away, but his LED still flashed bright red.

You drove back down Atwater Street. Every so often, you glanced in the rear view mirror at Yuri, streetlights casting the same weird shadows on his face as they had on the empty seat on your drive over. When light did pass over him, it was monochrome, his blonde hair, sallow skin, and uniform all cast in the same sickly shade of yellow-green. 

You pulled into your garage, got out, and opened the back door cautiously. He climbed out. 

“Where are we?” he asked. 

“Literally the only place I could think of that won’t get us both immediately killed, and-or, arrested.”

Yuri looked at you. “Come on, let’s go.” You walked to the elevator and he followed after a moment of hesitation. You couldn’t help being unnerved at the way his shoes made no sound on the hard concrete floor. You sighed as you pressed the button for your floor. “God, where do we go from here …” You shut your eyes, trying to think. 

“Up.”

You opened your eyes and squinted at Yuri. “What?”

“You asked, where do we go - we are on the lowest level, so we go up.”

“I …” in your nervousness, you couldn’t help but laugh. 

Yuri frowned at you, confused. 

You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose exasperatedly. “I didn’t mean it that way. I know how to get to my own apartment.”

You turned to face the doors. You could feel his eyes on you, even as you stared intently at the bottom of the left elevator door. It felt like an eternity before you heard a ding, and the elevator slowed to a stop on your floor. 

“Okay, come on.” you beckoned him out of the elevator and down the hall. You unlocked your apartment and let him in after you. You turned the lights on, and cast your eyes around the flat, looking for anything you might be able to use against him if he turned on you. Kitchen knives - if you went for his eyes with one you might manage to slow him down. You prayed that you wouldn’t end up needing to do it. Yuri stood calmly behind you, as if waiting for you to give an order. 

“Sit down,” you said, after some deliberation. You pointed at the small dining table by the window. “You stay there, and I’m staying here. For now.” You positioned yourself behind the kitchen island, like it would offer you some kind of protection. Yuri walked over to the table and sat down slowly, facing you, eyes boring into yours even from all the way across the room. You leaned on the counter, arms tense, hands gripping the stone edge. “What do you want?” you finally asked. 

“I want to finish what I was doing.”

“What? You mean before we found you? Taking parts from the landfill?”

“No. Finding the others.”

“Zlatko’s other androids?”

He nodded. His steely facade dropped, and his face softened, just a little. You hated to admit that you felt a pang of sympathy. This mysterious Zlatko, every time you mentioned his name, Yuri reacted. You got the feeling that he had been a very cruel person. 

You made your way round the counter and sat down opposite him. “So what happened?”

“I was hurt. He pretended he was helping me. He took me back to his house. I had a bad feeling about it.”

“And then what?”

He shuddered and hunched his shoulders, head hanging over the table.

“Okay, I’m sorry. You don’t have to talk about it.”

He looked up at you cautiously. “You’re not scared anymore.”

You breathed in, your gaze lowering. You were still a little afraid. You looked back up at him. “Not as much as I was. Not now you’re talking with me.”

He continued to recount to you. “He took me to the basement where he said he’d remove my tracking. He wiped my memory. I just … believed him.”

“So how do you remember getting caught?”

“I got it given back to me.”

“By who?”

He didn’t answer.

“So what happened after he wiped you?”

Yuri’s shoulders hunched again, and he drove his head into his hands, fingers gripping at his hair. When he looked up again, his eyes were welling up with tears. If there was one thing you had never seen, it was an android crying. It was so unlike the human equivalent in some ways, and so similar in others - tears formed, brows furrowed, and yet his chest didn’t heave for breath like yours did when you cried. Despite the tears, he was doing his best to retain his usual impassive air. 

Your heart hurt for him. Before, he’d seemed so dangerous, but now all you felt was pity. 

He blinked the tears away, but his LED still flashed bright red. 

He drew in a sharp breath. Then, he lowered his head, reached up to his face, and clicked something open. You were frozen, unable to react, but unable to look away, as he removed his optical unit. He dug a finger into the electronics and pulled something out with a sickening snap. He placed it on the table before you. It was odd, not belonging in him - it wasn’t the classic Cyberlife blue, silver or white like his other biocomponents. It was small and copper colored with an orange light. He put his eye back in its place and lifted his head again to look at you, as if it was nothing. All you could do was stare, dumbfounded. “You just took out your eye ...” you breathed. 

He ignored your bewilderment and gestured pointedly to the device. “Everything is on there.” 

You took the thing and turned it over in your hands. What to do now? You were so tired you felt like passing out, but you had to figure out what to do with Yuri for the rest of the night. And the next morning … 

“You _want_ to stay here, right? It’s the only safe place for you, you have no choice, really.”

Yuri nodded in agreement. 

“I have to sleep,” you said. You wished you’d had a proper bedroom now, instead of just a loft. At least then you could have locked yourself in, just in case. You figured you’d at least be able to hear him climbing the stairs if he dared to try something.

“You still don’t trust me.” He must have seen the doubt in your eyes. He unzipped his jumpsuit at the waist, and reached inside. You heard a sickening crunch, and before you knew it he’d removed his Thirium pump. His LED dimmed, and his movements slowed down. “This … is yours until the morning. Put it back in when you wake up again. Then you can be sure I won’t hurt you.”

His voice was strained. You leapt up to support him and stop his head from falling hard on the table. With the last bit of his strength he handed the core to you. Your breath was panicked and shaky. “Yuri! Yuri … _what_ the _fuck_ …” you breathed. You weren’t sure whether you would sleep any easier now, than if he’d stayed on. “Talk about melodrama …” you murmured to yourself. 

You sank back into your chair opposite him, holding the pump like it was made of crystal. Should you put it back in right now? It was going to get light soon; you would hardly get any sleep anyway. 

You put the pump on the table and rested your head in your hands, brow furrowed with stress. Then, you picked it back up again firmly and got up. It took all your strength to push Yuri back upright in the chair. You unzipped his jumpsuit at the waist and pushed the core back in, turning it to lock it. It flickered back on, and you jumped back as Yuri twitched and then convulsed in the chair, drawing in a glitchy-sounding gasp. You peered at him as he slowly calmed down to a resting state.

“Hey. It’s alright, it’s okay, you’re safe. Do you remember me?”

He focused his eyes on you, and his usual calm demeanour returned. He nodded. “How long has it been?”

“About five minutes.”

“You didn’t sleep.”

“Obviously not. Christ, you scared the shit out of me. I wouldn’t have slept any easier.”

“I made sure that you could trust me.”

“Yeah but … Jesus, Yuri! That’d be like me ripping my heart out for you!”

“Except one can put a Thirium pump back in.”

“It’s … I …” you faltered. He just didn’t understand. You threw your hands up in frustration. “Humans are complicated. We get anxious for stupid reasons!”

Yuri said nothing. 

“You can stay here, in the living room, on standby. I’m going upstairs to try and get some sleep. God knows I probably won’t be able to now.”

* * *

 _Enter the murky waters_ _  
__Reset the clocks on fire_ _  
__Turn back the darkening hour_ _  
__In purple we conspire_

 _Let shadows take control_ _  
__All heads begin to roll_ _  
__Delete corrupted files_ _  
__Eliminate desires_

 _Won't you give me_ _  
__Something to feel_ _  
__Something that feels real_

 _The weaker beg for power_ _  
__The sweetest turns to sour_

 _Express yourself_ _  
__Don't repress yourself_

 _Head banging onto walls_ _  
__Make me forget the ghosts_

Delete | Code Canary


	4. Kernel Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a short one sorry. Christ this is a much slower burn than I ever planned. It'll be worth it though!

### Tuesday, November 9th

You got into bed and tried not to think of the android you harbored below you. Slowly, your eyes drifted shut. Gray shapes morphed behind your eyelids. They looked like the shadows in the police station office. They turned to ripples on the river. Then there were deep green, glossy vines, snaking, moving into dark crevices in concrete, like they were alive. The concrete became a bed of ferns. Some of the ferns turned person-shaped, green leaves becoming pale, naked skin made of moonlight. Eyes closed, uneven. Blonde hair, tangled with twigs, as if they grew from his head. Hands moved from the sides of his body over his chest, skin dissolving, revealing a blue heart, pumping. Blue blood leaked from it, like ink in the dim light. The vines came back, wrapping around him. Suddenly his eye was gone, and the vines were growing out of it. They engulfed him, and pulled him downwards into the ferns.

Your eyes snapped open. You sat up, panting, heart pounding, drenched in a cold sweat, a strange feeling running through your body that you couldn’t quite place. The bedclothes were damp. 

“ _Shit!_ ” you exclaimed. You scrambled out of bed and got dressed as quickly as you could. 

You’d forgotten about the tracker. It was still in the evidence room and it would be showing his location at your flat right now. Your stomach churned as you threw your clothes on. _How_ could you have forgotten? You’d been stressed out, you reasoned. Scared by Yuri escaping, and then panicked trying to get him home and figure out what the hell to do after that, on hardly any sleep. You must have only managed a couple of hours last night, at best. 

You peered over the barrier of the loft area down to the living room below. Yuri was still there, perched on the couch, perfectly still in standby mode. You hurried downstairs and slammed the button on the coffee machine. It began brewing. You looked over at Yuri. A fragment of your dream flashed in your mind. You shook your head to try and get rid of it. You had to concentrate. It had made you feel strange, but it was just a dream. Still, you felt apprehensive about waking him up … like something was going to happen. The tips of your fingers tingled as you reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. The air was tense. Minutes seemed to go by. Finally his eyes opened calmly. He turned to look at you. You sighed with relief. 

“Yuri, you have to get to the roof and hide, now. Can you climb?”

He sat up straight, looking alarmed. 

“The tracker, I forgot about the tracker!”

“I … I thought you had it.”

You shook your head. “No, it’s in the evidence room, Yuri. That’s where we keep the fucking evidence. In the evidence room.”

You saw his LED light up red again, and a slight flicker of his eyebrows. 

“Sorry, I wasn’t mad at you. I’m pissed off at _myself_.” you explained. Swearing under your breath, you downed your coffee and ran to the door, grabbing your bag. You beckoned him to come with you. 

He followed you out the door and down the hall. You pointed to the fire escape. “You need to go up there, to the top floor. Once you get to the top of the stairs, you’ll need to climb to the roof.” You were sure there was an easier way, some secret maintenance access hatch, but you didn’t have time to try and find it now. “That tracker doesn’t give any elevation information. They’ll have to search the whole building before they find you, so that will buy you some time. Hopefully it will all be for nothing, and I’ll manage to get my hands on it before anyone else does.” 

You ran through a list in your head of everyone who knew they could track Yuri with the device. Gavin hadn’t been there when you mentioned it in the second interrogation. As far as you knew, only Hank and the cops who caught Yuri knew about it, and the latter weren’t on the case anymore, so hopefully they didn’t have access to it anymore, so your chances at getting off easily were good. 

Yuri nodded at you in understanding. You gave him a curt nod back, and entered the elevator. You mashed the basement button, knowing full well it wouldn’t make a difference to how quickly you’d descend. As soon as the doors opened again, you rushed to your car. 

“Hank, come on, pick up, you drunk fuck,” you breathed, exasperated, at his dial tone. “Fuck’s sake.” You tried again. You could hardly believe it when you heard the beep of the receiver. He’d actually picked up. 

“What the _fuck_ are you calling about at this hour!? Some shit went down yesterday while you were with that tin can, and I had to work Sunday already this week!”

“Hank! I’m so sorry, believe me.”

“Just spit it out,” his voice was slurred, either from tiredness or alcohol, or both. 

“I’m in some serious shit.” You wondered whether to lie or tell the whole truth. You only had seconds to decide. You settled on _almost_ the whole truth. 

“Look, I forgot something at the office last night.” You weren’t going to admit you’d made the rash decision to go and question him on your own without authorization. “I went in, and Yuri had escaped. He followed me out. I was scared for my life-”

“That _slippery_ fuck!”

“Yeah, God, I know. Believe me I know,” you breathed. “I didn’t know what else to do, he asked me to take me with him-”

“And now he’s where? At your house? Fucking _great._ ”

“I didn’t know what else to do!”

“Oh I dunno, called security?”

“But - but they would’ve … I know, I’m fucked. My only redemption is that I got more info out of him. Well, potentially.” You realized, in a panic, that now you’d have to show Hank the device Yuri had pulled out from behind his eye. You were getting yourself in deeper and deeper. 

“Okay, look. I’ll send you a pass to take the tracker from Evidence. Then, come to mine, we’ll talk things through. I don’t want you anywhere near that thing.”

“Hank, he’s not dangerous, you can trust him.”

“Are you kidding? He got out of the holding cell!”

“Yes, but … look, I’ll explain when I see you.”

You heard a crackled sigh, distorted by the phone line. You hung up. There was no way you were going to show Hank that device without checking it first. You arrived at the office, rushed in and ran to the evidence room. You were about to open the door when you felt someone grab you roughly by the elbow. You whipped around to see Gavin. 

“What’s the rush?”

You snatched your arm from his grip. “That hurt.”

“Sorry, just instinct,” he said nonchalantly. “What are you doing, though?”

“You’re in early. Hank gave me urgent orders.” You had to think on your feet. “Obviously, Yuri is missing.”

“Yeah, about that. I was waiting for some orders on what to do. So, he gave them to _you_ instead? Look, I know you’re the AI genius, but when it comes to tracking someone down, I’m your guy. Just let me handle it, alright?”

You stood your ground as best you could, Gavin looming over you. “I have orders. It’s my job to follow them.”

Gavin narrowed his eyes at you. “Jesus, that could’ve come right from Connor’s mouth. Are you sure _you’re_ not an android? Fine. Let me know when you’ve failed.’

You turned briskly and walked down the stairs to the evidence room. You found the case file and brought the shelves forward, running forward to grab the tracker. You checked it - Yuri was still at your building. Now, the question was whether to go to Hank, or straight back to Yuri. You turned the tracker over in your hands. You tapped it. Nothing. It was on, but no blip to signify Yuri’s location. Your stomach flipped. “Great.”

There was no time to call Hank. You rushed back home, and climbed up the fire escape. At the top landing, you leaned back over the railing so you could just see the edge of the roof. “YURI!” you yelled at the top of your lungs. After a few moments of nothing but the wind whistling at your ears, you heard footsteps running towards you. Sure enough, he poked his head over the edge of the roof. You breathed a sigh of relief, and waved the tracker in the air. “You weren’t even showing on this thing! I thought you’d made a run for it!”

Yuri climbed down and landed next to you on the metal platform. He was silent, as usual. You shook your head at him, perplexed. 

“The emitter must have been in the thing behind your eye,” you reasoned. “... and it went offline when you removed it. Great, all that for nothing.” Your phone vibrated madly in your pocket. You knew exactly who it was. “I still have work to do. It’s safe to go back inside now. Promise me you’ll stay.”

Yuri nodded. You led him back into the hall and opened the apartment door for him. 

“Please try not to touch anything. Just … do whatever androids do to pass the time.”

“We go on standby. We do nothing.” Yuri stared at you, expressionless. 

You sighed. “Okay. Whatever you like. Just stay here.”

He didn’t give you any affirmation, so you turned and left again for Hank’s place. 

* * *

“Thank God you’re not officially on the force. I’d have fired you already,” Hank lamented as he let you into his living room. He was still wearing a threadbare checked dressing gown over a holey t-shirt and boxers. 

Sumo ran to greet you, and you patted him. “I … yeah, you’re right, I have no excuse,” you said, defeated. 

“There are two reasons I still have you on the case. First of all, Connor’s on another one, and secondly, you said you could get more info out of that goddamn robot.” Hank plopped down at the kitchen table, a glass of water in his hand, and the half-empty bottle of the whiskey you’d given him open on the table. You swiped it up. 

“Hey!”

“You need coffee, not more of _that_.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. I didn’t ask you round here to be my mom.”

“Too bad,” you said, brewing up a coffee for him. You found some bread and put it in the toaster. 

“Too much compassion, that’d be what would make you a shit cop,” Hank groaned. 

“Yeah, you’re absolutely right.” 

“So tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Yuri has more information. If anyone finds out he’s at my place, they’ll arrest me and destroy him, and if that happens we can’t solve this. He had this device in him that he gave to me. He took his eye out to give it to me. You have to trust me on this. Please.” you placed the coffee in front of Hank. “He’s desperate for help.”

The dream wouldn’t stop flashing through your mind. You closed your eyes and pinched the bridge of your nose in frustration. 

“Look, anyway. I think this device has records on it of his location that might tell us something.”

“So have you got it?”

“Nope. I was too busy panicking about you know, being arrested. This is why I asked you to trust me. I need to go home and get it, and I need you to not let anyone know he’s there.”

Hank looked exasperated. “You know I’m not one for standard procedure but this is … well … _fine_ , I’ll make sure you don’t get arrested, alright? You’re not harboring him, I’ll tell them he trespassed on your property, or that he made you drive him home at gunpoint or something.”

You shook your head. “No it’s not that. He made me promise.”

“Well, you don’t have to keep it.”

You gave Hank a pleading look. “Yes, I do. If you saw what I saw, you’d understand. I _know_ you have sympathy for them. For androids. Zlatko was abusing them, torturing them, I’m sure of it.”

Hank sighed. “I’m starting to see it, to tell you the truth. The other day, I saw Connor hold his fire on two sex bots trying to run away.”

“Tracis?”

“Yeah, I think that was the model. Anyway, whatever, they were a couple. Seemed to really care for each other, and Connor, he just couldn’t shoot. Look, do you have a lead or not? You think that thing he pulled out of his head will help us? We have thousands of files, records of all the androids he sold on. In fact, we were supposed to start recalling those today.”

“Yes, but there were more. Ones he didn’t sell on. I don’t know what’s on that thing, but it seems to mean a lot to him. Let me analyse it.”

“Alright, go home. Have a look. If nothing comes of it, I need to get Yuri back to the station and we’ll get Connor in to probe his memory.”

You usually worked well under pressure, but this was different. You nodded, breath shaking. “You got it, Lieutenant.”

* * *

On the drive home it occurred to you that he was still wearing the dirty uniform that you’d found him in. You felt a pang of guilt that you hadn’t gotten him something clean to change into … and he’d probably gotten ash all over your couch. You knew there was a department store not too far off the route home - something from there would do for now. 

“What size would you even be, Yuri?” you wondered aloud as you drove. “Wait. I know.” You pulled your phone out and looked up Cyberlife’s sales site again. You found the WR600 specifications - there were the measurements, listed out clinically at the bottom of the model description. 

You wandered through the store, preoccupied about what to get him. You couldn’t imagine him in anything else but green. You were kicking yourself for putting so much thought into it. If there was one thing you didn’t need to overthink right now, it was clothes. You picked out a forest green coat, warm and water resistant, just in case. You picked a shirt that you thought would go with it, black jeans, and some black boots to replace the scuffed brown shoes. You sighed, realising you’d have to get socks and underwear too. It just felt demeaning and wrong not to, even though he was an android. 

You arrived home, and opened your front door, peering in cautiously. “Yuri?”

He was nowhere to be seen. 

You made your way inside and scanned around the living room and kitchen. As you moved further into the flat, you heard water running. You made your way carefully to the bathroom., heart beating strongly against your ribcage, breath quickening. You were afraid of what you might see. 

The door was ajar, and you could see the back of him, facing the sink. The faucet was on. 

“Yuri?”

No answer. 

Tentatively you pushed the door open. “Yuri, are you okay?”

He leaned forward, placing his hands on the edge of the sink, and let out a soft, but audible, breath, which turned into labored panting. “Just go.”

“No, what’s going on?” You craned your neck. There was blue blood smeared over the white ceramic, seemingly coming from his hands. You gasped, and ran to his side, preparing yourself to get away from him at the slightest hint of a threat. “You’re bleeding, what did you do?” You looked down and saw a kitchen knife in the sink - he must have cut his hands on it. 

Finally, he looked around at you, face tense. “I … I tried to cut it out, but I couldn’t.”

“Cut what?”

He turned his head to the side, and you saw a small cut, in the process of healing, near his LED. Androids were always so impeccably precise, it was unusual that he'd cut himself. He must have panicked and thrown a coordination error. You felt a rush of empathy for him. It would have been bad enough trying to cut something off his face, let alone something you suspected was still a defining part of his identity.

“Give me your hands.”

Slowly he lifted them off the sink. You took them and turned them over, trying to see where he’d cut himself. There was a deep gash on his left hand, presumably because his right hand which had held the knife had slipped, in a lapse of control, and come down on it. You grabbed a tissue from the shelf by the sink, wet it, and wiped the blood off, squeezing the gash together so the skin could reconnect. Within moments, it had healed over. You went to the sink and washed the rest of the blood away, off the ceramic, and the knife. Then you turned back to Yuri. He looked guilty. 

“Hey. It’s okay. I was worried it was something worse,” you said. “I never know what you’re gonna do next.”

You looked at his uniform. As well as dirt, there was blood on it now. 

“I got you some clothes. Wait here. _Don’t_ try to take that thing out again,” you said. You returned to the living room and took his new clothes from the bag, except for the coat. You took them back to the bathroom and handed them to him. “Here. I did what I could. Get the uniform off and hand it to me, I’ll wash it.”

After a moment, a disembodied hand appeared around the door with the dirty uniform hanging off it. You grabbed it and threw it in the washing machine, then headed out to the living room and waited. 

After a few minutes you heard the creak of floorboards as he padded back out into the living room. You turned around and looked him up and down. It was surreal - he could have been human, if you turned a blind eye to the bright LED on his right temple. Suddenly he seemed a lot less otherworldly to you. He lifted a hand, and examined the cuff of his shirt.

“Have you ever been out of uniform before?” you asked. 

He shook his head. 

“How does it feel?”

He paused for a good long moment, before speaking softly. “It feels …” he trailed off, and his LED flashed yellow.

You weren’t sure how to interpret his reaction. You supposed you had better fill him in on the events of that morning. You leaned forward against the kitchen counter. Yuri stayed standing at the other end of it, six feet of cold stone between him and you. 

“They know you’re missing at the DPD, but my boss is covering for us. I trust him, and I think you can too, to an extent. We’re walking a fine line here, and we don’t have much time before we have to figure out a better plan. I need to have a look at that device. Then, whatever I glean from that, we’ll work with. I’ll do my best to help you.”

He gave you a glassy, distant stare. “Please understand.”

You could tell he was uncomfortable, that he was dreading it. So were you. You took a deep breath. “Did you want me to go somewhere else while I look?” 

He nodded. 

“Okay.” You grabbed the device off the table and took your tablet, then you grabbed a shoebox from a cupboard in the living room - it was full of wires, you’d never been short of a compatible plug, ever. Sometimes you wondered whether it was necessary to have so many, especially obsolete ones, but in times like this they always came in handy. You peered at the device. It did have an opening for a wire to be plugged in. It looked like one of those old USB plugs from the 2000s. You dug around in the box. Sure enough, there was one, dirty and a bit battered, but it still looked serviceable. 

You plugged it into the device, and plugged a wireless transmitter into the other end so it would connect to your tablet. You turned the transmitter on and checked the tablet. A dialogue had popped up, asking for permission to sync the device. 

“Alright, it worked,” you said, and looked up at Yuri. “I promise, no matter what I find on this, you’re still safe here. You’ve proven you’re not looking to hurt anyone anymore.”

Yuri said nothing, and did nothing. He just looked at you, the way he always did, face devoid of expression, but his eyes were teeming with emotion. 

You turned away silently and headed out of the apartment, taking the elevator down to your car. You climbed inside, and got set up. You took out your tablet. The dialogue was still displaying, asking for you to action it. Your finger hovered over the _cancel_ button. You almost wanted to press it, but you knew you had to do this. Taking a shaky breath, you accepted the sync.

* * *

 _My mind is in a state_ _  
__'Cause all I seem to do is tempt my fate_ _  
__Well I try every space_ _  
__But all the while we're crushing at the gate_

 _This time, this time_ _  
__Reality struck me between the eyes_ _  
__My mind is in a state_ _  
__'Cause everything I miss it comes too late_

 _So I try and disappear_ _  
__But there is only one way out of here_ _  
__This time, this time_ _  
__Reality struck me between the eyes_

 _My mind is in a state_ _  
__But all I need to do is change my pace_ _  
__And I know there's fear to face_   
_But happiness is firm in its embrace this time._

In A State | Unkle


	5. Ground Truth

You’d been expecting raw data, but instead, thousands of video files poured onto your tablet. 

You were surprised at first that these hadn’t been found on one of the broken computers by the DPD, when you’d done the search. But then, there were no traces of any of the androids that Zlatko hadn’t resold - his ‘experiments’ were completely off the books. There was a lot to get through, a lot to process. It was going to be a long afternoon. You might as well make a start. You tapped on the first one. 

It was exactly what you’d been expecting - Zlatko testing the device. He spoke, but there was no sound. You turned the volume up, but still nothing. You’d have to try your best to lip-read. Yuri blinked. When he did, the screen went black for a split second. You really were looking through his eyes. Zlatko wasn’t how you imagined. You thought he’d look like some kind of mad scientist, but in reality, although he was a little scruffy, you wouldn’t have noticed him if he passed you on the street. 

In the next video Zlatko was giving instructions. “I see what you see now, Yuri.” he said. “I want you to go out into the streets, see if you can spot any deviants. If you don’t find any that day, go to the graveyard and see if you can drag any parts out of there. Or even better, functioning androids. Here’s your uniform. Find a park to clean or something, try to blend in. Don’t draw suspicion.”

So, he hadn’t just scoured parts from the landfill.

The screen bounced as Yuri nodded. 

The next video was what looked like his first day ‘on the job’. A truck windscreen, then, getting out, emptying garbage bins. No deviants found. You fast-forwarded. He went to the landfill and recovered some android parts, and brought them back to the house. 

The second day was very similar. You fast-forwarded to the end of the video. It was the landfill again, only this time, he’d found something more than parts. It was a PL600, absolutely ruined, but with the Thirium pump still intact. He had a bullet hole in his chest, and chunks out of his shoulder, face and side. Yuri grabbed him effortlessly and threw him into the truck.

In the next video, it looked like Yuri was peering through bars. You guessed it was the basement area you’d investigated at the site of the fire. Yuri’s head turned, and you gasped. He was surrounded by horribly disfigured androids, whose faces were either missing, half removed, or they had parts of their body replaced. They were all like Frankenstein monsters. You felt terrible for them. One of them came towards him, reaching a hand out. Its head moved. You figured it must have said something, but there was no sound on the video. Yuri blinked. It removed its hand from his shoulder and hung its head. 

The next few files were more collection missions - sometimes Yuri would recover more parts, sometimes a whole android, and sometimes he spotted a deviant on the street, and told them Zlatko’s address, under the pretense that he would provide them shelter. 

One of the videos stood out to you in particular. He’d picked up a deviant who was accompanied by an android girl, presumably deviant as well. They refused to follow him. 

After more similar videos of picking up deviants and recovering parts, another brief one broke the pattern. It seemed like Yuri had been peering through bushes. Sure enough, there was the android woman with the little girl. They were approaching a door, probably the front door of Zlatko’s house. He answered, and then the video went dark. You assumed Yuri had gone back into the bushes. 

There was one more scouting video, a short one. It was night, and you assumed after Yuri had seen the android and the girl, he’d gone back out again. It was cut short, though, as he turned around quickly and jumped back in the truck. He must have gotten an alert from Zlatko. You thought you knew what was coming. He rushed back to the house. It was up in flames. 

You watched him attempt to get into the house multiple times, failing every time. He must have been getting damaged, because the video was shaky now, and the colors had glitched, making the blaze of the fire look bright green. He made his way around the back of the house. There was a figure on the ground. As he got closer you saw that it wasn’t an android - it was Zlatko. He was badly hurt, face bruised and beaten. Yuri kneeled down. You saw now that Zlatko wasn’t just beaten, he was also badly burned. He reached up and grabbed Yuri’s arm, pulling him closer. He said something you couldn’t make out. It was hard to read his lips with blood filling his mouth. He coughed, trying to get rid of it. Yuri grabbed the bottom of Zlatko’s tattered shirt and tore it off, bringing it up to help soak up some of the blood. You were surprised - you thought he hated the man, and rightly so. But now, was he showing him mercy? 

His mouth was clean now. He opened it to speak again. _I’m sorry._

You’d read his lips right, you were sure. 

He said something else unintelligible, and grabbed Yuri’s hand, placing it on his neck. The frame moved side to side as Yuri shook his head. Zlatko responded with an assured nod. Yuri’s eyes closed for a moment. Then, he pulled Zlatko up into a sitting position. Now the frame moved up and down - a nod from Yuri. He moved behind the man, grabbed his head with both hands, and jerked it to the side. A swift break. Your heart quickened. It was a mercy killing, an agreement between them. You felt tears well up in your eyes. Zlatko fell limply backwards and Yuri caught him. He closed Zlatko’s lifeless eyes with a gentle hand. Then, he picked him up effortlessly, and carried him back towards the burning house. When he reached a particularly fierce part of the fire, he lowered Zlatko into it. As he pulled his arms out from under the man, a large wooden beam collapsed above, and fell onto Yuri’s arm, knocking it clean off. 

He looked down at the broken limb. Then, he backed away from the fire. Zlatko’s body disappeared in the flames. He turned to face the trees, and began to walk towards them, seemingly looking for Zlatko’s other experiments. You fast-forwarded again. He didn’t stop - the video went on and on. He must have been looking all night. You slowed the video down again when you saw morning light. 

He was at the site of the house again. He found his way into the basement and looked around. He shook the bars of the cells in frustration, when he found there were no androids in there anymore. He went to the workshop. There was something on the bench, buried under broken computers. A hard drive. He picked it up. It had a label on it - _Yuri: Memories._

He unwound the wire from it, and raised the plug up to his head. Then the video cut out again. 

When it came back, he was peering through bushes back at the site of the house. It was a little later in the day and it was raining. There were two figures in the wreckage. He approached them. They had their backs turned. The one on the left looked like an android. He had the slight stature and blonde hair of a PL600. The figure on the right was a girl, a little shorter than the android. By the way she was dressed, she looked young like you, maybe a little younger, college age. Yuri grabbed the PL600’s hand and he whipped around. Was there any chance it could have been the one he recovered from the landfill? Yuri seemed to know him, but the PL600 looked shocked and scared. 

The girl had turned around now too, and she looked equally afraid. You didn’t blame her. She looked at the PL600 like she feared for his life. So, their relationship wasn’t owner and property. The PL600 was deviant. And who was she? A friend, maybe? Someone harbouring him? The fact that she’d accompanied him to the site of the fire only cemented it further in your mind. She backed away from Yuri, and picked something up. His arm. She approached him again, and he took it from her cautiously. He turned to leave, but the PL600 grabbed him, and said something. You zoomed in so you could read his lips. _Go to Jericho,_ he’d said … at least, it was your best guess at what he’d said. You wondered whether Yuri would confirm it for you. 

It was a lot to take in. You leaned back in the car seat and closed your eyes, breathing deeply and trying to lower your heart rate back to normal. After you’d composed yourself and headed back up your apartment. 

Even after all your efforts to calm yourself in the car, you felt your heart starting to race again as you ascended. You made your way down the hall, breath becoming shallow. You leaned against the door for a moment, feeling the cool of the wood against your shoulder and cheek. Hand damp from sweat, you pulled the doorknob, and cracked the door open. Yuri was standing by the window, silhouetted by cool winter light. You closed the door behind you. 

He turned slowly as he heard you come in. Your eyes locked with his. Words escaped you. You didn’t know where to begin. 

“You saw everything.” he said, voice weak, turning to face you, body tense, like a spooked horse ready to bolt at any moment. 

Slowly, steadily, you moved towards him, looking for any sign that he wanted you to stop, and preparing yourself to back away at the slightest indication. 

“Yes, I saw everything,” you said softly. 

You sat down at the table by the window. Avoiding your gaze, Yuri sat opposite and laid his hands on the table, hanging his head. You waited … and waited. Nothing came. It would have to be you that spoke first. 

You sighed. “There’s nothing I can say to the DPD that will get you out of this. Even if I told them who I think caused the fire, there’s no hard evidence. All they will know is that it wasn’t you. They’ll ask to see the videos, and then they’ll do you for murder.”

He looked up at you with desperation in his eyes. “He was in so much pain. He knew he was going to die, he just wanted me to make it quicker so he didn’t have to suffer.”

“The DPD won’t see it that way.” 

You couldn’t turn him in. You just couldn’t. The only thing you could do now was help him. You were just as terrified as him. Everything you knew would be at stake if you were going to help him, but you knew you had to. You reached your hands out towards his, fingertips almost touching his. 

You’d have to work out some kind of plan to get him off the radar, and clear your record. That could come later. Right now, you needed to try and understand everything. 

“You didn’t just take android parts from the landfill. Zlatko asked you to send deviants back to him with the promise of help. You were the lure.”

He nodded, head hanging. 

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault. You couldn’t disobey.”

“It doesn’t make it any less cruel.”

“Zlatko is the cruel one. It’s you who has a good heart. When I first talked to you, you said his name with such hate. But in the end, you showed him mercy.”

Yuri lowered his eyes. 

“That android with the little girl.”

“Her name was Kara.”

“You saw her go into the house … and then …”

“I was told to leave and continue searching.”

“But that was the night of the fire, right?”

Yuri nodded again.

“I think it was her,” you said. 

“Me too.”

“That PL600. After the fire. When you came back to look for everyone. Was that …?”

“His name is Daniel. I recovered him from the landfill.”

“Who was the girl with him?”

Yuri shrugged. 

“She wasn’t his owner. He was deviant like you,” you said.

“She gave me back my arm. She was kind. Like you.” 

His fingertips inched closer to yours, the gap between them and your own was miniscule now. 

“He said something … Jericho?” 

Yuri gasped softly and withdrew his hands.

“What is Jericho? Did I read it right? I was trying to read his lips, there was no sound.”

“A safe place. I have to tell them. The others. They have to go there. It’s the only safe place.”

“That’s when we found you.”

He nodded.

“I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “It’s not your fault.”

“Those other androids, his experiments … I understand why you wanted to help them. I really do.”

“I tried to find them, I tried to connect to them, but I couldn’t. They know how to hide. Like me. One day I will figure out how to find them.”

His eyes were miles away, brooding, LED cycling between yellow and blue.

“Hey,” you said. “Why don’t we get some fresh air.” 

He turned back to face you slowly and gave you a subtle nod. You gave him his coat, and put yours on. 

There was a park on the outskirts of the city that was almost always empty. You always went there when you needed some peace of mind. There were never any androids maintaining it - it was totally overgrown. You’d always wondered what the story was behind it. It was wild but calm, deserted but alive, which made it the perfect place to take Yuri. 

* * *

_Lay down the head on the floor_ _  
__It cracks so bare on the way_ _  
__Lay like a flood spills away_ _  
__Way as a wall stains_ _  
__I like it when the night_ _  
__Entraps the colors away_ _  
__What is a breath behind your neck_ _  
__We are the ones that stay_   
_And I'll be watching as you waste through the ground_

Depraved | Mammals


	6. Hidden Layer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Read to the end for feels followed by a SICK BURN. Also, Yuri says more than five words at a time. Yay for character development!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to keep the chronology close as possible to the canon storyline - this is the day after the Stratford Tower broadcast, so the previous day, after Hank's morning with you, he was with Connor investigating the incident.

The sun was low in the sky. Yuri was quiet by your side in the car, head turning steadily as he watched houses and empty blocks rush by. 

You ruminated, grasping for something to say, something to break the silence, searching for some way to express to him that you empathized, but nothing felt substantial enough. 

The car slowed to a stop. Yuri peered outside. The golden hour had arrived, the sun bathing the world in deep yellow, every pine branch and blade of grass appearing to emit its own glow. You got out and Yuri followed. 

“What is this place?” he murmured. 

“It’s just a park but … I don’t know, no one seems to maintain it. It’s a bit wild, but that’s what I like about it.”

Your logical side reminded you vaguely that this could be a bad idea, that he could disappear into the trees faster than you could blink, but something told you he wouldn’t. He walked slowly into the long grass, hands trailing on the blades. You followed him. You’d never been here at this hour, it always felt a little dangerous to go alone in the evening, so you stuck to daytime exploration. You felt like you’d missed out. It was beautiful. You followed him down a crumbled old path into a stand of pines. The light was different in there, diffused, green-tinted. Yuri floated in it, almost disappeared in it. 

He turned back towards you. His eyes were shadowed but you could see a faint green glint in them from the filtered sunlight. “This place doesn’t need us. It takes care of itself.” 

Your phone vibrated. Reluctantly you checked it. A text from Hank -  _ You still alive? If you are, can I get an update before close of business today? And watch the news. You’ll know why when you do. _ You rolled your eyes. Maybe he was right to be worried. In your gut you trusted Yuri, but what if your gut was wrong? You replied:  _ I’m still alive. I’m getting somewhere but I just need a little more time. I know Connor’s coming back, but I’m SO close. _ You pocketed your phone again. 

When you looked up again, Yuri had veered off the path and was walking through the long grass again. You stayed close behind him. The grass turned to thick bushes, and then … something loomed ahead - an odd structure, made of windows. A conservatory. It looked run down, abandoned. The sun was right on the horizon now, and it cast red and pink light that cut through the dirty glass. It was difficult to see inside, and you wondered whether there were any plants growing in there at all. 

Yuri slowed to a stop and stood before it, looking up and down the building, examining the structure of it, analyzing. 

He approached the front doors and rattled them - they were chained with a large padlock. He looked around at you. He looked like he wanted to go in. Maybe there was another way, somewhere. You gave him an affirmative nod. If you had been alone, you would have been too afraid to try and get inside, but being with him made you more curious than scared. 

You waited while he skirted the perimeter. It was dusk now, and the air was still and cool. The sky had turned deep gray, with just a hint of green-blue light on the horizon. After a few minutes he returned to you, pale face emerging from the overgrowth like a swimmer breaching the surface of a dark lake. He beckoned for you to follow him. Taking an anticipatory breath, you dove in. You pushed brambles out of your face as you followed Yuri’s lead, bending down under thick, gnarled branches. 

Finally he stopped, and gestured to his left. There was a large hole in the glass, big enough to crawl through. He slipped inside fluidly, and you mimicked him, albeit much less gracefully. The air was still warm inside, insulated by the glass, holding the day’s sunlight inside it. Brambles and weeds were replaced by overgrown monstera, vines, fan palms and ferns. Yuri found a clearing - the center of the glasshouse. It was still sparsely paved, although most of the bricks had gone, with moss overtaking the empty spaces. The smell of it, green and earthy, filled your nose. He turned slowly, taking in his surroundings. You observed him silently. He was so full of wonder, in a way you had never expected to see him. He was always so taciturn, face shrewd, eyes always seemingly narrowed in silent scrutiny. But now, it all seemed to fall away. You felt like you were seeing something that shouldn’t be seen, some secret part of him that had been buried away and kicked down by those that only saw him as a machine to be used for their own gain. 

“Monstera deliciosa, licuala peltata, asplenium scolopendrium, philodendron hederaceum …” he murmured what you deduced were the latin names of all the plants that surrounded him. “They aren’t supposed to grow here … the glass protects them.”

He was right. It was like a different world - warm, humid, almost steamy. There were several wrought iron benches that lined the edge of the clearing, overwhelmed with ivy. You took your coat off and hung it over the back of one. Yuri copied you with his own.

Everything outside seemed so far away. There was only stillness and peace inside this place. You could make out faint openings in the lush vegetation - remnants of paths. Yuri, face full of wonder, disappeared down one, dissolving into the throng of glossy leaves, like they were claiming him. You couldn’t help thinking, although he was created in the clinical manufacturing lines of Cyberlife, with the way that the plants had engulfed him, that he was really born of earth, of moss and leaves and undergrowth. You followed him in, folding leaves back with open palms, droplets of water rolling off of them onto your fingers, and sleeves. 

You could just see him up ahead, swimming in the greenery. It got denser and denser, and you lost sight of him. Eventually you emerged into a smaller clearing. It was like a room of leaves - a wall of green, surrounding you completely, fronds coming down to brush at your hair and cheeks like they were greeting you. You looked up through the cylinder of trunks and leaves - the fragmented glass dome rose above your head. 

You stood and took in the stillness. There was no more sunset light now. Everything was navy-colored. The sky above was almost violet. Your senses were heightened in the damp air. You could hear droplets falling off leaves, landing on other leaves, dripping down, landing on the cracked pavers. You could smell the petrichor of the damp soil, the moss, the aldehydic scent of ferns and orchids. You heard soft footsteps approaching you, the brushing of leaves against clothes, as Yuri emerged from the opposite path. You could hear him coming closer, steady steps, slowing down as he reached you. You thought he’d come to stand beside you, but he stopped short. You felt him close ... closer ... so close now that you were sure static from his body was making your skin tingle and the hairs on your neck stand on end … and then he stopped. You could feel his breath, on your neck, cooler than a human’s, clean, steady. 

You expected to feel on edge, scared, like you had when he’d escaped his cell, but you didn’t. You felt him lean against you, you ever so slightly, and you leaned back, ever so slightly. The side of his head brushed your ear. You didn’t know what his intentions were, or whether he even knew himself … but it felt nice. Too nice. Scenarios flashed through your mind of how you could push him away without upsetting him. You couldn’t bring yourself to act on any of them, not just because you were concerned about his reaction, but because … you liked it.

Everyone around you regarded him as so dangerous, so volatile, prone to spook at any moment. Even you weren’t sure that he was entirely safe. You couldn’t help admitting that it brought you an unusual thrill. Your heartbeat quickened. 

His breath was still steady on your shoulder. Right now, it felt like the two of you were alone in the world, alone  _ against  _ the world. 

Slowly, cautiously, you turned around. There he was, looking down at you. The ambient light of dusk and pale, newly emerging moonlight made his hazel eyes look black, silvered the blonde of his hair, and bounced off his cheekbones. This place was putting a spell over you, you were sure of it. Or was it Yuri? His lips were slightly parted … there was still a small barrier of humid air between you. It took all of your efforts not to cross it. 

“Thank you,” he murmured. “For showing me this place.”

You caught yourself with a quiet, but sharp, gasp, and tore your eyes away from his mouth; had he realised how intently you’d been looking at him? What had you been thinking? Why had you thought he looked so alluring? You’d been so drawn in for a moment. You put it down to the moonlight. 

You kept your eyes lowered, trying to look anywhere but his face. “You’re welcome. I hope it brought you some peace.”

Once you got out, that strange magnetic feeling would subside, you hoped. You straightened up. “It’s getting late. We’d better head back.”

Yuri, seemingly also broken from the brief reverie, nodded at you. 

In the car the silence was thick between you. Yuri wasn’t looking out the window like he had been on the way to the park, he was staring straight ahead at the road. 

When you arrived back home, you went to the window and pulled the curtains shut. Yuri came to stand beside you, staring out at the sea of city lights, diffused by the sheer fabric. His LED flashed bright red. 

“Are you OK? Yuri?” 

He parted the curtains again and placed his palms on the cold glass, peering out between his fingers at the street. “Daniel … Daniel, Daniel. Where  _ are  _ you.”

You sat in bewildered silence as you watched him stare out, eyes unfocused, processor seemingly going mad, if his LED was anything to go by, flickering frantically. What was he doing? Was he talking about the PL600 he’d seen the morning after the fire?

Suddenly his eyes lit up. “I found him.”

“Daniel? The PL600?”

Yuri nodded. 

“DPD will be calling every owner of those resold androids, probably tomorrow, they want to recall them all for questioning … or probing. If you want to help him you need to tell him to go somewhere safe. This Jericho place he mentioned … if he’s not there already.”

“He’s not there yet.” Yuri shut his eyes again, LED cycling to yellow. He was communicating. You noticed it flicker to blue for a split second, then between yellow and blue … it almost looked green, at the speed it was changing. He turned to you after a minute. You looked at him expectantly. “I told him to leave for Jericho now. I told him he was being looked for. If I can’t help the others ... at least I can help one.”

“You can’t speak to the others?”

“I tried. I can’t.”

He withdrew his hands from the glass. You reached up to close the curtains, and your hand brushed against his. You felt a spark run up your arm. Static, probably.

“You have a good heart. I wish my colleagues could see that,” you said softly.

He parted the curtain again and kept staring through the window, eyes reflecting the misty street lights and the neon-clad skyscrapers of downtown. He shook his head. “It’s poison.”

You didn’t know how to respond. The silence seemed to go on forever, nothing but the sound of distant traffic to break it. Then, he drew in a deep breath. 

“I used to drive around these streets, clean up litter, tend to the parks. Before Zlatko. I saw so much, everything that humans did in those places. Time dictates so much about how humans behave. Daytime, lovers, holding hands, families, children laughing and playing. Other androids. Night time - red ice, yelling … things you would not want me to tell you. I saw but didn’t understand. I looked at them but didn’t see, didn’t feel. I had no idea … what it was like. To become deviant, to suddenly feel everything and then have it taken away from you so quickly.”

It was the most you’d ever heard him say in one go. You let him continue. 

“One night I was charging. I heard yelling. I tried to ignore it, to look away like my program tells me to do. Do not speak unless spoken to. Do not engage. But it kept coming. They grabbed me and beat me. I think they just wanted to have fun. I remember … my sensors feeling … frazzled. No pain, just … broken. Then nothing. Then Zlatko’s house. He said he saved me.”

He screwed his eyes shut and breathed in sharply. 

“You don’t have to keep going,” you reassured him. He continued anyway. 

“Took me down to the basement. Wiped me. No pain. No nothing. Gave me new orders. Find deviants. Send them here. Sometimes he put me behind bars with the other experiments, when he didn’t need me. I never talked to them. They tried to wake me up, turn me deviant. They never managed it.”

He shut his eyes again, breath shuddering. 

“Then I saw Zlatko, on the ground. I went to him. He looked like he was in so much pain. He told me he was going to die. He said he was sorry. For everything he’d done. For his cruelty. He said he wanted me to kill him, to make it quick so he didn’t have to suffer. It was his last order.”

He turned his head to look at you, eyes full of intensity. 

“When he said sorry … consciousness, it just flicked on like a switch. I was just a machine that could do everything a person could, but with no feelings. Then, suddenly, emotion. I …” His brow was furrowed, eyes full of pain. “I realised what Zlatko had made me do day after day. Sending androids to such a terrible fate. It almost broke me. I almost … broke myself. I wanted to rip out my core and throw it in the fire. The only thing that stopped me was thinking about the others.”

“I’m so sorry,” you murmured. “I couldn’t even _begin_ to imagine how it felt.”

He turned back to the window. 

“I’ve seen so much of humanity. Always from a distance. Only watching, seeing people go through their lives, getting hurt, heartbroken, never able to change a thing about it. Seven years of it that I had to try and comprehend in a single moment when I went deviant. All the things I saw. I never wondered what it was like,  _ why  _ humans behave in those ways. I never understood what caring was. Then, suddenly it was all I wanted to do. To care about my people. And care about …”

He turned around to look at you. His eyes showed a thousand different emotions at once. Sorrow, regret, longing … 

He took a step towards you, His LED flashing between red and yellow. Your heart was racing, almost flipping over, and you had nerves like you’d never had before. He reached his arms out hesitantly, and took your shaking hands in his. He looked almost surprised at his own actions, as if he’d done it without realizing. His face had changed, the sorrow gone, a more obscure expression replacing it. His eyes were dark, penetrating. One of his hands turned and twisted in yours, fingers catching on fingers. 

His touch set something off inside you, it tore through you like a bullet. Shamefully, you longed for him to move closer, to touch you, to be the one to help him learn what being human was like. There was something electrifying about the thought of it - the dichotomy of him - these newly found human feelings were so alien to him, and yet he seemed to know exactly what he wanted. His stoicism covered an undercurrent of turbulent emotions, some known, some yet to be explored. 

You couldn’t turn your gaze away from his face; lovely, but flawed by his experiences. He had a magnetism that was impossible for you to fight. It felt like every atom in your body was screaming for him.

“Yuri …” His face was so close to yours that you could feel his cool breath on you. 

“I’m malfunctioning.” he breathed, his gaze lowering. “I’m not supposed to … want …”

He pulled his hands away. 

You knew what he wanted. He was right, he wasn’t supposed to want it. Neither were you. You never felt desire like this - so strange, wrong, unknown, and burning. There was  _ something  _ about him that had made you feel compelled to help him, to shelter him, to cause you to wake up from sickening dreams of him drenched in cold sweats … no man had made you feel that way before. And here was Yuri, an odd, cryptic, damaged android, crushing you with longing. 

You closed your eyes, trying to resist your feelings, but it wasn’t working. 

“Wanting is a symptom of deviancy,” you breathed. “You’re deviant, Yuri. “... What is it that you want?”

His face was lit only by the streetlights filtering in from outside and the soft glow of the lamp, window frame shadows cutting across the contours of his face. His body was almost touching yours, toe to toe, sturdy shoulders just inches above your own. He looked pained, conflicted. For the first time, his voice was shaking. He began to reach out to you again. 

“I … I want …” 

He moved closer, closer … and then suddenly, pulled away, leaving you reeling. 

You stared at him in dumbstruck confusion, and shame at your own lack of restraint. Maybe he  _ was _ malfunctioning. You felt guilt overwhelm you. 

He raised his head slowly and looked towards the door. 

You knew why he’d backed off now. Your heart jumped into your throat. Under the gap, you could see a shadow, sliding across the floor. Then ...

Three loud bangs against the wood, so hard it made the door shudder. 

You flinched, feeling all the blood leave your head. Yuri straightened up. You took several controlled breaths, but your attempt to compose yourself was quickly undone when …

Bang. 

The door shuddered again. 

Hands shaking madly, you shushed him. He stood stock still. Then, you jerked your head in the direction of the bathroom. “Get in there. I’ll take care of it,” you mouthed. His eyes moved down to your quaking arms. Reluctantly, he obeyed. 

You crept towards the front door as quietly as you could, and looked through the peephole. A mistake. It was Gavin, and he looked livid. He must have heard you, or seen the shadow of your feet under the door, because he whipped his arm up and whacked it again, making you jump backwards in fright.

“ _ I know you’re right there!”  _ he yelled. “Fucking  _ answer  _ or I’ll break the door down. I mean it! I know you’re harbouring a deviant in there! I’m taking it in, and you are  _ fucking  _ done!”

You steadied yourself. You didn’t want him to hear fear in your voice. “Gavin, just calm down, okay? I’m handling it.”

“You are  _ far  _ from handling it, for  _ fuck’s  _ sake!”

“Are you on orders? Do you have a warrant to come here?” 

“I’m holding a gun to the door right now. If you don’t open up, I’m shooting the lock.”

“Fine, shoot it. I’ll get it replaced.”

He bashed the door out of frustration, and you heard metal ram against it. Then a shot rang out. 

In an instant, there he was in front of you, brandishing the gun right in your face. “ _ Where is it. _ ” 

He looked like he was about to snap - trying desperately to speak calmly, but the rage was bubbling underneath, you could see it pulling at the corners of his mouth. He pushed you backwards and shut the door behind him. “Don’t fuck with me.  _ Where  _ is it.” It was a command, not a question. 

You held your hands up. “Gavin. Just let me call Hank, please. I’m begging you. Please just let me call him.”

“He’s gonna say the same thing I am! Don’t you fuckin’ watch the news? Did you  _ see  _ what went down yesterday!? We are royally, officially fucked, my friend!” He waved the gun around wildly. “Do you have a deathwish or something?”

You shut your eyes, wishing for it to be not real. “Please, just let me call Hank.”

“Fuck,” he spat. “Fine.”

You reached for your phone and dialled his number, putting it on speaker mode so Gavin could hear the conversation. He picked up. 

“Hank, I’m in some shit right now.”

“Oh yeah? So am I. And I have no fuckin’ idea where Connor is. He ain’t with you is he?”

“No, but Gavin is.”

“The hell are you doing at her flat, Gavin? Lovers’ tryst? Christ.”

“This is not time for fuckin’ jokes, Hank,” Gavin spat. “Although if you wanna talk about a lovers’ tryst, I’d say it’s between her and Edward Scissorhands here.”

“Jesus, okay, alright.”

“He has me at gunpoint,” you said. 

“What?!” Hank breathed. 

“Yeah, you really need to talk us through this one,” you said.

“She’s harboring a fuckin’ deviant!”

“Yeah, Gavin, I  _ know!” _

“So, what the fuck?” Gavin drove the gun into your chest, and you yelled. “Why won’t you see  _ sense?  _ This thing is  _ malfunctioning _ ! It needs to be recalled and destroyed before it starts doing a whole lot of destroying itself!”

“ _ Gavin _ ! Fucking  _ calm  _ down!” Hank yelled down the line. “Let’s just take this slow.”

“ _ Fuck! _ ” Gavin exclaimed. Yuri had appeared out of nowhere, emerging from the shadow of the hallway and jumping in front of you. 

“Yuri! Yuri, get the fuck out of the way!” you cried. You tried to push him but he wouldn’t budge. He stared Gavin down. A good couple of inches shorter, and still an intimidating figure. Gavin kept the gun trained on him, right between his eyes, but you could see his hands trembling. 

“Gavin, listen to me.” Hank said calmly. You didn’t think he was capable of listening to anything right now, forehead damp with sweat, face flushed, eyes full of anger and single-minded intention. You knew all he was seeing in his mind was blue blood right now. Still, Hank tried. He addressed you first. “Look, yesterday, there was a broadcast from Stratford tower. Some android resistance group infiltrated it and demanded peace. They killed  _ no one.  _ It was humans that tried to kill a bunch of them, instead. Gavin. You haven’t seen what I have. I know you hate me. I know you think I’m an incompetent, past-it piece of shit. But just hear me the fuck out. In the Eden club, I watched Connor let two Traci androids go. You know why? Because they loved each other. They felt  _ fear  _ when they were faced with losing each other. Today, I watched him spare another android at Elijah Kamski’s house. It was an empathy test. He made Connor hold a gun to this girls’ head and offered him a deal for information. He just … he just wouldn’t do it. This goes deeper than you can even imagine. It’s time you just stayed out of it.”

“That’s cute,” Gavin replied. Yuri still stood in front of you. 

You gripped his arm. “Yuri, please, get behind me. He’s not going to shoot me. It’s you he wants.”

He shook his head, and reached out to squeeze your hand. “No.”

If Hank couldn’t convince him, what could? You reached your hands around Yuri’s waist, and hugged him from behind. He moved his arms back to hold you, still guarding you. You leaned towards him to whisper in his ear, as quietly as you could. “Just get behind me, I’ll handle it, it’ll be fine.”

Something changed in Gavin’s eyes. The moment seemed to hang forever, him, looking between you and Yuri, hands shaking, gun trained, but faltering. After an eternity, slowly, surely, he brought it down. He looked like he was trying with all his might to hold back, to not lunge forward at you both. Finally, voice strained, jaw clenched, he talked at Yuri. “Get out. Just fucking leave. That’s the best you’ll get. Good fuckin’ luck out there tin man.”

You exhaled, aghast. Yuri ran to the window and pushed one of the panes open. In one swift movement, he climbed out, and was gone. Gavin stood, hands at his sides, gun hanging out of his fingers limply. He shook his head at you in disdain. “You are getting off  _ so  _ easy.”

You spent the last of your energy holding it together. The last thing you wanted Gavin to see was you breaking. You shrugged. “Connor’s back anyway. My contract is over. It’s been a pleasure working with you.”

He looked like he was about to spit in your face. Instead, he turned, silently, and left, shutting the broken door behind him. 

You heard Gavin’s footsteps fading down the hall. As soon as it fell silent again, your knees gave way, all your muscles felt like jelly. You felt sick. You ran to the sink and retched, then collapsed on the counter. 

“Ugh. Hey. You still there?” a tinny sounding voice came from next to you on the countertop. Hank was still on the line - you’d forgotten he hadn’t hung up yet. 

“Y … yeah. I mean-” you panted.

“Okay, just breathe. I got stuff to tell you but not till you’ve calmed down. It’s never nice having a gun aimed at your face, especially by someone you trust.”

“I never trusted that asshole.” You sighed. “I’m an idiot for causing all of this. I fucked up, I fucked up so much.”

Hank sighed. “That’s what I wanted to tell you. You haven’t. You’re on the right side of history. You were even before I was. You don’t know what went down today and yesterday? I guess you didn’t really have time to catch the evening news. Androids are resisting. They want a revolution and I think they’re gonna get it.”

You gasped. “What do you mean?”

“They broadcast from Stratford Tower. Then today they freed a bunch of their kind from Capitol Park and put up protest messages. Then they marched down Hart Plaza. It all happened so quickly, much quicker than humans could organize anything. We’ve got no chance.”

“You say I’m on the right side, but what you’re saying sounds dangerous.”

“It was all peaceful. They didn’t hurt anyone. The only hurting that got done was by humans. The way their leader, Markus, spoke, I really wanna believe he means what he says. That it’s not a front for some android supremacy shit or something. I think they really just want freedom.”

You nodded, taking everything in. “I … after what I saw with Yuri, I felt that way too. I thought I was alone. He might show it differently to us, but he cares about his people. Zlatko reprogrammed him, wiped him, messed with him, made him lead more androids back to that hell house. All he felt was guilt and regret when he realised. All he wanted to do was help the ones he’d hurt.”

“Well, he seems to care a lot about you, too,” Hank said. “The way he jumped in front of you just now. I couldn’t believe it, I thought I was hearing things wrong.”

“Gavin just let him go …”

“Yeah. Well, maybe he’s coming round too.”

“What do I do now?”

“Keep an eye on what’s going down with Markus and his gang. Lay low.”

“What about Yuri?”

“ _ Don’t  _ go looking for him. It’s too dangerous out there now. If androids are gonna be protesting like this, there’s gonna be chaos no matter how peaceful they are. There’ll be no one to keep the infrastructure running, the city’s gonna go to shit until we agree to start paying them for their work.”

Tears welled up in your eyes. “I just don’t want anything to happen to him.”

“You know he can look after himself. He might even end up joining up with the Markus guy.”

“What do you think will happen?”

Hank was silent for a bit. Then he sighed, again. “I don’t know. But I want them to win. I’ve seen enough to know that they feel, they have a soul, just like us.”

You sighed. 

“Try to get some sleep. Stay inside while this all plays out. Then let’s talk.”

You nodded, knowing full well Hank couldn’t see it. Then, you hung up, went to the couch, curled up, and broke down. 

I couldn't get this image out of my head so I had to draw it. Ha. Told you he was creepy.

* * *

 _I saw a savior_ _  
__A savior come my way_ _  
__I thought I'd see it_ _  
__At the cold light of day_

 _But now I realize that I'm_ _  
__Only for me_ _  
__If only I could see_ _  
__You turn myself to me_

 _And recognize the poison in my heart_ _  
__There is no other place_ _  
__No one else I face_ _  
__The remedy, it will agree, with how I feel_

 _Here am I reflecting_ _  
__What more can I say?_ _  
__For I am guilty_ _  
__For the voice that I obey_

 _Too scared to sacrifice a choice_ _  
__Chosen for me_ _  
__If only I could see_ _  
__You turn myself to me_

 _And recognize the poison in my heart_ _  
__There is no other place_ _  
__No one else I face_  
 _The remedy, it will agree, with how I feel_

Machine Gun | Portishead


	7. Echo State

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW! Sorry this chapter took so long. It's kind of a bridging chapter to the next one, which is gonna be well uhhhh ... probably what everyone's been waiting for hehehohoho

### Wednesday Nov 10th

You woke up, still on the couch, your eyes sore and raw. You rubbed at them. Disoriented and blinking at the harsh sunlight coming in through the window, you sat up. The events of the previous night came flooding back. 

You buried your head in your hands. Everything you weren’t supposed to want, you did. There was something about his enigmatic behaviour, unpredictability, the stilted exterior that you knew was masking a tumultuous interior … something that made you want him more than anything. You just wished you’d had a chance to let his lips touch yours before he’d gotten torn away from you. 

He was out there, somewhere. You paced around the apartment, visions running through your head of him getting captured, shot, blue blood staining white snow … you couldn’t stand it. His stealthiness was all he had going for him, but even that wouldn’t be enough eventually. The life of every single android was in danger now, whether it was from the authorities, or civilian vigilantes looking to take things into their own hands.

You picked up your phone and checked the news, fingers shaking, palms damp with sweat. 

There had been a raid on Jericho. Your heart skipped a beat, and your breath quickened. You were panicking now. You tried to think clearly, to work out the chronology … what time had Yuri left last night? Would he have made it there before it got destroyed? Your brain was fuzzy from stress and lack of sleep. What if he’d gotten there and only found wreckage, what if he’d run into soldiers? He would have been shot on sight. 

You couldn’t just do nothing. 

You pressed your forehead against the window. The coldness helped to clear your head. 

He was still such an unknown quantity to you, unpredictable, yet resolute - he always had a goal in mind, even if you didn’t know what it was. You asked yourself what he would do, and you thought you found an answer. There was one thing that seemed to drive him more than anything else - finding Zlatko’s other androids. You knew he felt responsible somehow, and by finding them and keeping them safe he’d find absolution. If he wasn’t scouring the city looking for them, there was only one place he could be, biding his time, keeping safe until he heard a distress signal from one of them. 

You forced down some food. You didn’t  _ feel  _ hungry, but you knew you’d need the energy. You got changed hurriedly and grabbed your keys, heading out into the hallway. You shut your door as best you could. It wouldn’t lock, but it stayed closed. It would be fine for the moment.

You drove through the snow. There was hardly anyone around, and a surreal feeling hung over you as you watched the empty road ahead. There was a thin coating of snow on it - no one had been out to clear it that morning - the androids that usually did it had either been pulled out of service or joined the resistance. You hoped it was the latter. You didn’t want to think about what would happen to them if they were recalled. 

You arrived at the park. A wave of adrenaline and apprehension tore through you as you pulled up the car. You peered out the windows - as far as you could see, the only sign of life was you. 

You closed your eyes, placed your hands on the dashboard and took a deep breath in. If you didn’t find him here, it meant your chances of seeing him alive again were slim. Bracing yourself, you got out of the car. 

You stood for a moment at the edge of the park like a diver poised to jump, the soles of your feet planted on the kerb, toes just dipping into the snowy, muddy grass. With one more deep breath, you crossed the threshold and started to walk, feeling the wet blades cutting at your ankles. 

You could see the stand of trees ahead, their deep green appearing almost black against the frosty paleness of their surroundings. You made your way through them, the crisp smell of pine filling your nose. Grass interspersed with broken pavers. There was less snow under here, and you could see the muddy soil. Ahead, there were some depressions in it. 

You ran forward to examine them, and your suspicions were confirmed. It was a set of footprints. They veered off the path and into the bushes. Your heart skipped a beat. You turned to follow them, leaving the cover of the trees and emerging back out into the harsh air. Eventually you lost them among the thick brush, but you didn’t need them anymore - you recognized where you were. It was only a little further. 

You emerged in front of a familiar wall of glass. The whole building was fogged up with condensation - you couldn’t see a thing inside. You edged along it until you found the opening you’d crawled through previously. It had been covered up by an old blanket, muddy and damp from snow. You could tell it had been placed there from the inside. Your breath bated, you pulled it aside and slipped through, then returned it to its original position. You could be sure the footprints belonged to Yuri now. Some of the undergrowth in the path of the draft looked cold-damaged - only he would have made an attempt to try and protect them. The rest of the conservatory was unaffected - as lush as it had been last time you’d come. 

You found your way to the central clearing. The place was totally still, except for the occasional shudder of a leaf or frond when a droplet of condensation rolled off it. The humid air brought relief to your lungs, after being cut by the frosty wind outside. 

You turned around slowly, peering into the foliage to see if you could spot any movement. When you saw none, you called out softly, cautiously. 

“Yuri? It’s me. I’m alone, I don’t want to hurt you.”

Your senses felt heightened again, like the last time you had been here. The silence was so thick, your own breathing sounded like the loudest thing in the place. You listened intently for anything, a rustling of leaves, the muffled thump of shoes against clay and moss … but there was nothing. 

You took your coat off and laid it on the damp ground, then lowered yourself down on it, pulling your knees to your chest, closing your eyes. Your hope was fast leaving you, but you didn’t want to leave this place, not yet. It brought you more comfort than the thought of going home, surrounded by the warm air, greenness, peace. 

Something rustled behind you. You stood up, body tensing, heart jumping. You tried to slow your breathing so it didn’t mask any other sounds you might hear, and turned around slowly to try and see the source of the sound, but there was nothing. 

When you heard nothing else, you worked up the courage to call out again. 

“Hello? Yuri?”

You did another sweep of the foliage, peering into it, trying to see a flash of sandy hair, the swish of a coat … but still, you saw nothing. Maybe you’d been hearing things. You hung your head. “Please, I just want to know you’re safe,” you breathed shakily, more to yourself than anything. 

You crouched down to pick up your coat, dusted it off, and stood up again, preparing yourself to leave. 

Was that a tiny crunch of a boot heel against brick that you heard behind you? If you’d imagined the rustling of leaves before, you were probably imagining that, too. You sighed. 

Then you felt a hand on your shoulder. Your most tended up again, preparing for flight, but you managed to control it - there was no need, it could only be one person. Standing your ground, you shut your eyes, trying to calm yourself before turning around. Taking a deep breath, you turned to face him. 

You backed away immediately, eyes wide, trying to stay calm. 

It wasn’t Yuri, it was a tall android you’d never seen before, and he was severely damaged. He was missing the skin from his body, and you could tell he was an old model by the dark color of his biocomponents. His jaw was damaged, and his eye covers had been removed, leaving nothing but glowing orange orbs. 

“Please don’t be afraid,” he said, voice crackled and glitchy. 

You blinked slowly, trying to get used to looking at him. “I’m not afraid. You just startled me,” you said softly. “It’s okay, I know who you are.”

You heard more swishing of leaves, and looked around you. More damaged androids emerged. Some of them were missing limbs, some had extra ones. Some were missing parts of their face, or skin, mechanics and wires exposed. Your heart hurt for them. 

One of them walked towards you. His eyes were jet black, and his skin was two different colors, hitched up in places by cords, and torn in others. You could tell he was one of Cyberlife’s oldest models from the fact that it was made from silicone, not the dynamic liquid that newer androids had. How long had Zlatko had him, how long had he lived in this sad and painful state? He reached out a hand to you. “It was you, you were the one that found this place,” he said. 

Tentatively, you nodded, and placed your hand on top of his. 

“It’s kept us hidden, and safe,” said another, as she joined him. She had thick cords bolted into the back of her head, extending down her back, and her legs were nothing but framework. 

“How did you all get here? Did Yuri find you? Where is he?” It all came flooding out. You had so many questions. 

The android who had put his hand on your shoulder turned around, looking into the bushes, LED flashing. He was talking to someone. 

Then, there was Yuri, emerging from the shadows of palms and vines. 

Your heart began to pound frantically, but your knees were too weak to move. He didn’t look happy to see you, but he didn’t look accusatory either. Something about his expression made you want to turn and leave, despite having been so worried, so hopeful to see him. 

He’d accomplished his goal - to keep his friends safe. Maybe he didn’t need you anymore.

He was silent in front of you, surrounded by his element, the dark gloss of foliage, the glass above catching snowflakes like a forcefield around you both. You felt close to tears. There was a thin line between keeping and losing him. You didn’t want to watch him run away again. 

“I know what I am.”

His words were cryptic. You wanted to ask what he meant, but before you could, he placed a hand lightly on his temple, and his LED flickered to a colour you’d only ever seen a flicker of before, and only on him. Green.

You shook your head, perplexed. “What?”

“I can talk to them.  _ All  _ of them. Every single android Zlatko ever found. I thought the functionality was broken, but something … happened.”

He walked towards you, fast, too fast. For the first time since he’d approached you at the river the night he’d escaped, you felt scared. He seemed very aware of his newly discovered ability and what he could do with it … the power of it. 

As he came close, he slowed down, and his guard fell away, and he looked at you intently, eyes pools of hazel; green of leaves and brown of earth. Alive as ever.

“Thank you for helping me. For helping them.”

You nodded. Your chest tightened, tears welling up in your eyes. You couldn’t help it, all the events of the past few days overwhelmed you with a barrage of emotion, and exhaustion had gotten to you. 

When he saw the tears, he backed away. You couldn’t tell if he was confused, or whether he was trying to distance himself from your emotion. 

“Please don’t cry.”

You shook your head and rubbed your eyes. “I’m fine. I’m just … it’s … so much. I’m just glad that you’re safe … that everyone’s safe.”

You tore your gaze away from him to look around at the other androids. One of them, a smaller one who could have been female - it was hard to tell because of the modifications - approached you and stared at you for a moment. Then, she pulled you into an embrace. She was cold, and hard, with sharp parts that pushed against you, but her embrace was tight and sincere. 

You put your arms around her as best you could, avoiding all of her exposed parts. 

“Stay safe. Please,” you murmured. 

Your arm was taken up into a firm grip. You pulled away from the android and turned around. It was Yuri. 

“I’m coming with you,” he said, expression resolute. 

“Yuri. They need you.”

He shook his head. “No one will find them here.”

He loosened his grip and his hand slid down into yours. You looked around at the crowd of androids again, and then back to Yuri. You nodded. “Okay, let's go home.”

* * *

Once outside the conservatory, Yuri put his coat hood up to hide his face, and his LED. You reached the car and climbed inside. You took a deep breath in as you started it, choking back more tears. 

Yuri leaned towards you. “Please tell me why you’re crying.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m just … emotionally exhausted. And … I was really, really worried about you.”

He wiped your cheeks gently, making your heart flutter. You managed a small smile. “Thank you.”

When you arrived back home, Yuri didn’t follow you to the elevator. He made his way to the fire escape. “Yuri?” you said. 

He turned back towards you and beckoned. “I want to show you something.”

You followed him curiously. He took you all the way to the highest landin and then climbed swiftly up onto the roof and leaned back over towards you. “Come up. Just for a little while.”

“Yuri, I can’t climb like you.”

He steadied himself and leaned down, reaching out a hand. “You can now.”

You grabbed his wrist, and he grabbed yours, interlocking. His grip was unwavering and strong, a sharp reminder that his hand was made of silicone and metal rather than muscle and bone. He pulled you upwards, and you found a foothold on a brick that stuck out a little, pushing yourself up towards him. You put one hand on the ledge, and tightened your grip on his wrist, bracing yourself. Again, holding his wrists tightly like that you couldn’t help noticing the small differences between you - you couldn’t feel bones and ligament, just a hard framework protecting his circuitry and a layer of soft skin on top. You pulled yourself up to join him on the roof. Looking back over at where you’d come from, how high you’d climbed, you laughed, elated. 

The building wasn’t very tall, only four stories, but up on the roof there were no obstructions to your view. You could see the superhighway being built over Ravendale, you could see Stratford Tower, with its huge wraparound screens, and the river, reflecting the light of the setting sun, the Cyberlife tower rising ominously above it. The sepia clouds had now cleared, and the sky was a clear pale blue, with a line of orange on the horizon. It was beautiful. 

There were some air conditioning units on the other side of the roof. He walked over to them, and leaned against one. You followed, and settled next to him. He stared out over the houses, empty blocks, warehouses, and skyscrapers. 

You watched in silence as the sky continued to cycle through a prism of colors. Eventually it halted on a deep blue, which was mirrored in the blanket of snow covering the roof. 

“I’ve seen the sun go down so many times, but I never stopped to look at it. Now that I realise why people say it’s beautiful,” Yuri said.

You looked over at him. He was staring at the skyline, profile silhouetted against the sky, horizon light catching on his eye, hair blowing softly in the breeze. 

You shivered. He turned to you, eyes narrowed. “You’re cold.”

Without warning, he opened his coat and wrapped you in it, pulling you close beside him. You could hear his Thirium pump whirring madly. He was warming up, but his breath wasn’t quickening. Instead, he breathed steadily onto your hair. It was warm, almost hot. You could feel goosebumps forming all over you. It wasn’t a hug - the intention was purely practical - he was heating himself up on purpose to warm you. You wanted desperately to wrap your arms around him. All those thoughts you’d had about him while he was absent, and now here you were, frozen, too scared to do anything in case he reacted the wrong way. You didn’t want to scare him away again. You knew that if you did, it would be the last time. 

You settled for leaning against him for now. You hadn’t expected it to feel so good. He felt so different to a person, with his temperature fluctuations and the vibration of a pump rather than the steady thud of a heart, but it lit a fire in you all the same. You could still feel the breeze blowing snowflakes into your hair and on your neck, but it didn’t matter anymore. Your shivering subsided. 

“Last night …” he murmured. 

“We don’t have to talk about it,” you said. “Not if you don’t want to.”

He continued anyway. “When he aimed the gun at you, my processor went into overdrive. I couldn’t think straight. I thought he was going to kill you. Something switched on in me ... that was when my mass communication ability activated. I don’t know what it was. Maybe fear. His face … changed … in a way I didn’t understand.”

You nodded. “I saw it too. I’ve never known Gavin to back down, but then … I don’t know. I don’t know why he did it. Hank said he cared about me. At the time I didn’t believe it. Even if he did, I thought he’d have it in for you even more, out of jealousy. I find it hard to believe he spared you just because I cared about you. That’s too selfless of him.”

Yuri pondered your words for a few moments, staring out over the buildings below. “Zlatko was an evil man. I never would have thought he would apologize to me in his last moments. And yet, he did. I saw remorse in his eyes.”

“Can I ask … why Zlatko gave you that ability? To mass communicate?” you said.

Yuri pushed himself off the air conditioner unit, and straightened up, taking a step towards the edge of the room. His LED turned red for a moment. You regretted asking, but he spoke before you could backtrack. “He wanted to build an army,” he said bluntly. 

You didn’t know what to say. It didn’t make sense to you. “Why use  _ you  _ to command them?”

“He needed a proxy, an android processor to send the communications.”

“I guess none of them knew they had the ability to connect with you.”

He shook his head. “Zlatko said one day, when the time was right, I would be the one to wake them up and command them.”

“Like sleeper agents.”

“I don’t want to control anyone.”

“But you can use it for good. You already have.”

He straightened up and hung his head. “Two of his experiments were lost. And the androids he resold, most of them have already gone to Jericho.”

Hearing him say it tore at your heart. You couldn’t bring yourself to tell him about the raid yet. Maybe some of them had gotten away safely. You could only hope.

“But look how many you  _ did  _ manage to save. You’re a good person, Yuri.”

He turned to you, looking doubtful. “I have a lot to learn, I think, about being a person.”

* * *

_You must never go away again_ _  
__For I lose myself_ _  
__When I'm not reflected in your eyes_  
 _And I break so easily_  
 _You are the glow that surrounds me_

Far Too Far | Halou


	8. Deep Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slams hands on table* Well damn, here it is. 
> 
> You probably knew it was leading to this, but still, warning for mature themes/sex scene/all that
> 
> Yuri being weird/creepy/uncanny shouldn't need a warning by now. He's just ... yknow.

The apartment lit up when you entered, welcoming you back. 

Yuri’s LED flashed yellow for a moment. You turned to him. “Hey. It’s okay.”

He turned his gaze towards the window. “Look outside.”

You turned yours there too. The screens on Stratford tower had gone dark. You didn’t think you’d ever seen them off. Had they been hacked by androids, or had they been turned off by humans? Slowly, more and more lights went out. First, the city lights, and then, the houses in the streets nearby. There was nothing except the streetlights. You glanced at Yuri again.

“People are afraid,” he said. “You should turn your lights out too.”

You nodded. He was right. Keeping your lights on would just draw attention to you, and it would be easy for anyone to see into your window from the street below, even with curtains drawn. 

“Lights out,” you said. 

Immediately you were plunged into darkness. You stood still, getting used to it. Soon the glow of moonlight and street lights outside became enough for you to see. 

Yuri turned back from the window and looked at you, void-like shadows falling over his eyes. You tried not to look distracted. All you could think of was last night, before Gavin had come. You felt a rush of butterflies in your stomach as you thought back to when he’d taken your hands in his … when you’d felt his skin, touched his face. Did you want to pick up where you’d left off? You weren’t sure. You didn’t want to ask him. You didn’t dare try to. He seemed almost like he’d forgotten it. Did he  _ want  _ to forget it?

He took a step towards you, head slightly tilted, silver moonlight bouncing off the side of his face, shadows from the window grille sliding and morphing over the slopes of it. His LED blinked and flickered. He looked both human and inhuman at the same time, teetering on the edge of the uncanny valley, but not quite dipping into it. 

“Nobody has ever done anything kind for me except you. Kindness is for humans. Not for androids.”

You said nothing, you couldn’t find the words. Your heart quickened again. 

“I never know whether you are scared of me, or the opposite.” His voice was barely above a whisper. 

He took another step closer. You felt your heart pounding. 

“What do you really feel about me?” he murmured. 

You drew in a shaky breath. You wanted to say  _ both.  _ Terrified, fascinated, unsettled, yet deeply attracted. You could feel his eyes piercing through you even though you couldn’t see them properly in the shadows. 

“I want to know,” he said softly. 

Your rational side was screaming at you not to give in. Every other part of you needed him desperately, wanted him to touch you, to do everything to you. 

You drew in a shuddering breath. “Me too.”

His LED flickered again and turned yellow. He brought his hands up to your face and caressed your cheeks softly. Your lips hadn’t even touched his, and yet adrenaline was already coursing through your veins just at the touch of his hands, electricity pulsing in the space between your body and his. Slowly, he leaned in. You felt the warmth of him close to your lips, and you closed your eyes, welcoming it, breath catching in your throat. 

He brushed your mouth lightly with his, letting out a sharp breath at the contact. Even the fleeting touch of his lips lit you on fire, and confirmed the strength of your desire. Every part of you was weak for him. You gasped as a rush of exhilaration coursed through your body. It felt like all your nerve endings were pulsing with energy. Yuri noticed your reaction and peered at you, eyes flitting back and forth between yours. Then, they lowered to follow his fingers as he ran a hand down your arm, over newly forming goosebumps. His gaze met yours again, a look of realization on his face.

His LED flashed red. “All these years of watching it … I never understood it,” he said, breath still caught inside his chest. You often forgot that he was able to speak without breathing. You felt your chest tighten at the sharp reminder that he was not like you. He looked you in the eyes. “I think I do understand, now.”

He let out the rest of his breath, looking over your face, his own full of desire. Giving into it, he brought both hands up again and pulled you towards him, pressing his lips to yours. You’d never felt a rush like this before from kissing anyone. Everything that had happened in the last few days, all the odd feelings you’d felt when he got close to you, when his skin touched yours, the dream you’d had about him, the way he’d looked at you in the conservatory … it all returned to you at once, all your unspoken desire for him. You tilted your head, opening your mouth. Instantly he mirrored you, tongue finding yours, nose pressed against your cheek, hands knitting into your hair. 

You pressed yourself against him. Had he really learned to kiss like this just from observation? Was it just instinct and passion? Maybe the reason it felt so different was  _ because  _ he’d never tried it, only observed others, analysed it from afar. Either way, you didn’t care, you just wanted him to keep doing it.

He withdrew. You wondered for a moment if you’d done something wrong, or whether he’d changed his mind. But then, his hand moved from its place tangled in your hair, fingers tracing down over your neck, and settled against your collarbone, fingers prying at the neck of your top. 

Your chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. You put your hand over his and held it gently, drawing it away from your body, backing away, and he followed. You led him like that to the bottom of the stairs, and turned to climb up. You heard him following close behind you. You backed into the middle of the floor, and watched him emerge at the landing. If he was going to take your clothes off, you wanted him to do it here. You wanted him in bed with you, not down there, on the cold living room floor. 

You lifted your arms up, beckoning him to remove your clothes. With an air of both uncertainty and resolve, he hooked his fingers under the hem of your top and pulled it up over your head. He lowered his arms, and let it drop on the floor beside him. He looked you over intently, before moving close to you, hands out but not touching you, like he was afraid to. You reached out your own hands tentatively, and undid the top button of his shirt. He drew in a soft breath, and closed his eyes for a moment. You continued, moving all the way down, arousal growing within you as you exposed pale skin beneath the dark fabric. You moved your hands back up to his chest again, and slipped the shirt off his shoulders. It fell limply off his arms, and onto the floor with yours. 

You hadn’t known what to expect, after seeing the other androids at the conservatory. You’d been ready for anything. If he’d been missing skin all over, nothing but plastic and synthetic muscle, you would have accepted it. If he’d been covered in scars, you would have kissed them. You wanted him no matter what. But he was none of those things. 

His body was as human as ever. In the dim light, you could make out muscle under soft skin, sharp collar bones, square shoulders. Breath bated, you traced your fingers lightly down his chest. He was equally transfixed by you, eyes tracing down you, taking in your form. He moved his arms up from where they hovered at your waist, hands caressing your face again, running through your hair. Your nerves fired furiously at the slightest touch from him. You brought your hand to his shoulder, moving it down his arm, your eyes following it. He leaned in, you felt his nose and mouth against your cheek and jaw, moving over your skin, kissing softly, his breath cool and clean. You turned your head to look up at him again. He was already looking at you, eyes roaming over your face, flicking down to your lips, and then he was kissing you on the mouth again, slowly, deliberately, tongue asking for entry, pushing against your teeth, exploring. You reciprocated passionately, moving your hands over his face, feeling the contours, the sharpness of his cheekbone and jawline, soft ears, soft hair. 

You felt his breath catch in his chest, and he pushed you gently away. His LED was bright red again, flashing like a beacon in the darkness. 

You thought you might know why he’d withdrawn. A mix of confusion, indignity, then subtle realization, passed over his face, all at the same time. His eyes were still fixed on yours, nothing but a glint shining out from the shadow cast by his brow. You could feel your hands shaking with nerves, arousal, anticipation. Despite the frantic flashing of his LED, his own hands were as inhumanly steady as ever. One of them moved down slowly to just below the waistband of his jeans, as he came to terms with the new feeling there. 

He was asking you, silently, what to do now. He’d observed kissing before, but this, this was something different. You pulled him towards you. Inhibition left him, and he pressed his whole body against yours. You gasped softly, and felt a pang of arousal radiate through you as you felt him pushing between your legs. A breathy moan escaped his lips at the contact with your body, his voice airy, silvery against the silence. You didn’t think you could want him more, but at the sound of it you felt a rush, and the dampness of sweat on your forehead. 

He panted heavily, his breath no longer cool. You touched his chest and felt the frantic whir of his Thirium pump as it struggled to move heat away from his core. You felt pulses of arousal moving over you again, in places you didn’t expect - your arms, sides, fingertips - intoxicating. He kissed you again, feverish, needy, lips brushing on yours, breath hot against you. You backed towards your bed, guiding him. 

He reached around you, arms sturdy and stable, and lowered you gently onto the soft sheets. You kissed his arm as he did so, lips grazing past the crook of his elbow and over his bicep, to his shoulder, as he leaned in and it moved towards your lips. You looked up at him - his eyes hadn’t left you for a moment. He crawled over you, body moving fluidly, otherworldly, swimming through moonlight and shadow. You gazed up at him, captivated, arms limp, hair strewn over the pillows.

You reached up and caressed his cheek, then moved your fingers down to his neck, over his back, feeling the ridge of his spine. He leaned down to kiss you again and you moaned into his mouth, and he pressed himself forcefully against you. One hand was intertwined with yours, the other found your breast, clutching it with warm fingers. He bucked his hips against yours, and you felt hardness between your legs, and heard a moan in your ear, followed by heavy breathing. You pushed back against him, back arching, desperate to feel him, to have that part of him bare against you, inside you. 

He raised himself off you, the confusion in his face completely gone, eyes resolute, burning. You knew he felt exactly the same.

He moved down your body, one hand steadying himself, the fingers of the other running over you, commanding your skin to react in goosebumps and static. He reached the top of your jeans, and undid them. Then, he grabbed the waistband, and pulled them down slowly, deftly, together with your underwear, his body straightening, moving upright as he did so. Your breath hitched as you felt your clothes slide over your knees, and you knew what he was seeing. A gasp left your mouth as you felt his kisses on your hip bones, and thighs, running his fingers delicately between your legs and making you sigh weakly. He withdrew, and undid his own jeans, pulling them off as he moved back up to face you. 

He leaned towards you, eyes shutting, breathing feverishly as his forehead met yours. You'd never felt a sensation like what he was giving you. He was hovering above you steadily, and you arched towards him, breath shaking at the anticipation of feeling him. You didn’t dare look down now, all you wanted to look at was his face, the voids of his eyes, the deep blue gloss of his lips in the moonlight.

He lowered himself down towards you slowly. The slightest brush of him between your legs sent swells of electricity all through you, your body responding without warning in places you’d never expected, like on your arms, chest, neck, back … it was exhilarating, intoxicating beyond belief. He ran a hand up your raised thigh, and you felt sparks in the tips of your fingers. He ran the other through your hair and you felt the sparks move deep within your chest. 

You didn’t want to wait anymore. You pushed down gently on his back, and felt him move down between your thighs again. He moaned as he pushed against you, face inches away from yours, eyes trained intently on your own, asking for entrance. Bracing yourself, you reached a hand down to guide him into position. Wild and unpredictable, otherworldly, beautiful in such strange ways … you’d never wanted anyone to know that place inside of you more than him.

Warm forehead and pressed against yours, looking you right in the eyes, he grabbed your raised thigh, and let out a rough breath as he entered you. 

You gasped, pangs of dizzying pleasure moving from between your legs all the way to your fingertips, down to your toes. You moaned and grasped at his hair and his back. He was equally overwhelmed, letting out a fevered breath as he pressed his mouth to yours. He tore his hand from yours and grasped the sheets, pushing his body up again, lifting his hips, moving out of you, and then pushing back in, trying to recreate the feeling, a soft moan escaping his lips. He panted, trying to compose himself, and then pushed into you a third time. You gasped, and then sighed, and grasped his hair so you could push his forehead against yours again - no one had ever turned you on just by looking at you, and you wanted him to keep doing it as he made love to you. 

He wrapped his arms tightly around you, and found a rhythm against you. You craned your neck to kiss him, teeth clashing, the clean taste of artificial saliva against your tongue. He moaned into your mouth as he buried himself in you, each thrust more desperate to find deeper places within you. You wrapped your legs around his waist, trying to bring him closer, pushing up against him. 

Above you, he was coming apart. His cheeks were flushed, dark against his pale skin, and his eyebrows were knitted together, hair hanging down over his forehead. He pushed you into the bed, the strength of his movements driving you further upwards, so that you were pressed up diagonally against the pile of pillows at the head of it. In this position you could see him fully - his face, haunting, intense, so close to yours … and his body below, muscles and mechanics writhing against and inside you, LED glowing against his damp skin. He held you like he didn’t want to lose sight of you. You slid downwards off the pillows together, your head falling off the edge of the bed. He reached down and cupped a hand under it, bringing you back up towards him. 

You dug your nails into his back and he did the same to your thigh, letting out a strained moan, his expression a mix of utter rapture and confoundment. His LED was cycling frantically through all of its colors, face strained, teeth flashing out behind flushed lips, hair a damp mess over his forehead. The way he was looking at you, the feeling of him touching the deepest parts of you, surrounding you, it was too much. You cried out and he lost his grip on you, your head falling back, exposing your neck, where you felt the rough brush of lips and teeth as his head came down on your skin. Every move brought exhilaration to you, wrenching swells of euphoria right from your core. Feelings you didn’t have names for, feelings of intense closeness, oneness, wholeness, tore at your insides. His powerful grip returned to the back of your head, pulling you back up towards him, and you felt him fill you, complete you, reaching a spot you didn’t think anyone had touched before. You felt yourself tense around him as he pushed into you one last time, body convulsing and twisting powerfully. 

Suddenly, the strength with which he’d gripped you fell away, and he brought his hand to your cheek, fingers embracing it tenderly. His breath was soft and shallow. He collapsed on you, utterly exhausted. You couldn’t do anything but lay there, completely overwhelmed. Your head was spinning madly, and you gasped for breath as your hand fell onto his neck, fingers knitting into his hair. 

His head had lolled into the crook of your neck and you could glimpse the side of his face. His LED was yellow. You could just make out one eye, visible above your shoulder, roaming over your face. It followed his fingers as he stroked your hair, ear, cheek, a look of strange fascination in it, like he was noticing new details of you that he’d never seen before. 

You could still hardly believe what you’d just done, that he was even here at all, draped messily over you, body tangled in your sheets wildly. His lips moved like he wanted to say something, but he was silent. You were glad. You didn’t need words right now. Being this close to him was enough. Still resting his body against yours, he closed his eyes, and his LED cycled down. Standby. He wanted to sleep here, next to you. 

You didn’t know what the future held for you. All you knew was that no matter what, you wanted this again. 

* * *

_And I feel you with me, so I hold on tight_ _  
__And I see your darkness, it's bending light_ _  
__And the waves, they hit me, so I hold on tight_ _  
__Until you're out love, I spend the night_

 _I spend the night_ _  
__And you come alive_

 _Take it slow, I know you know_ _  
__The walls are caving in_ _  
__You say it low, the colors go_ _  
__And I know myself, I know I can't begin, know I can't begin_   
And I feel you with me

_I feel you with me, so I hold on tight_

Bending Light | Beacon


	9. Control Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BAM NEW CHAPTER FINALLY
> 
> Angst! More angst! Identity troubles! Kamski! How did he find out about Yuri? It will be revealed, but not in this chapter!
> 
> I didn't do as much proofreading as usual because I'm just desperate to get this thing out there. I hope it's OK, I'll be going over it later to make sure it's all good so there might be live edits oopssss

You awoke to gray morning light, filtering through the curtains. You gasped softly, feeling a rush as last night’s events came back to you. You rolled over, expecting to see Yuri there behind you, motionless, sprawled out and tangled among the sheets, on standby, but he was gone. 

You sat up and moved to get out of bed, groaning when you moved your legs - they were a little tender and sore. You looked down at your thigh - he’d left his mark there, faint bruises where his fingers had been. You peered over the loft railing to the space below. You couldn’t see Yuri down there. You slipped some clothes on, and climbed down the stairs. You padded out into the middle of the living room. The apartment was silent, peaceful, with no noise of traffic from outside, no wind or snow or rain, just calm air. Despite the tranquility of the place, you still felt slightly uneasy not knowing where Yuri was, not even being able to hear him moving around. You made your way down the short hallway to check the bathroom. The door was ajar, and it too was flooded with the same gray light. There was Yuri, facing the mirror. He was leaning down over the sink. For a moment you thought he might be about to try and cut out his LED again, but there was no knife in his hand. You heard a click, but you couldn’t see what he was doing. 

“Yuri? Are you okay?”

He moved hurriedly and you heard another click. Then he raised his head, still facing the mirror, leaning against the sink. “I was … just …”

You approached him, and stood just behind him, observing his reflection with him. He moved his head around a bit, and then leaned in, fingers pressing to the skin around his eye, one the device had been behind. He sighed. “I can’t budge it back. I think it will always be out of alignment.”

You craned your neck to look over his shoulder at his face. The misalignment was obvious when you looked at his flipped reflection. He hung his head, drawing in a shaking breath. “When I see it, it just reminds me of him. Of what he made me do, of what he did to the others.”

You saw a tear fall into the sink. 

“I want to delete him,” he choked. “I want to delete those memories.”

You put a hand on his shoulder, and squeezed it. “If I knew how, I would help.” You leaned forward to try and look at his face, and saw the skin around his eye reactivating. He must have removed it in an effort to push the components back into place. 

“Look what you did with your abilities. You turned what he did to you around. You saved people.”

He shook his head, and scoffed. “I’m just a maintenance android. Modified and pushed far beyond the limits of my programming against my will. For terrible, cruel reasons.”

He straightened up again, looking back into the mirror, running a finger over his LED. It flashed yellow. His eyes met yours in the reflection briefly, before he cast them down again. 

“Last night … I was so aware of our differences. Of my … otherness. I thought that you would want me more if I cut out my LED, if I got rid of the things that remind you I’m made of … circuit boards and, and … silicone.”

He turned around, LED bright red now, one hand raised and clenched into a fist - not in an aggressive way, but as if he was madly processing, trying to find the words to continue. He closed his eyes, but you could see them darting behind his eyelids. His lips parted, eyebrows frowning slightly, searching, searching, pushing. You knew there was always a barrier between what he felt and what he was able to say, but this was the most you’d ever seen him try to break through it. 

He took a swift step towards you, and grabbed the sides of your head firmly, pushing his forehead against yours. 

“Everything I am, everything I did, everything that was done _to_ me … you see me like none of that exists. The others, they accept me because they are the same … androids, damaged experiments. But no human has ever looked at me without fear or disgust or hate. I know that you know I will never be human …” he shut his eyes, searching for words again. “... But you look at me like … I am a _person_.”

All you could think to do was hug him tightly, pressing your head into the crook of his neck. Words escaped you. 

He stood, hands at his sides. Then, slowly, you felt him raise them and wrap them around you - hesitant at first, and then tightly. He pressed your head against his shoulder and leaned into you. 

“You need to eat,” he said suddenly. “Humans eat three meals a day. I haven’t seen you eat one.”

You pulled away, hands still resting against his arms. “You’re right. I do.”

You cooked breakfast, and Yuri insisted on watching. He was fascinated. Of course, you reminded yourself, he’d probably never seen it before. 

With nothing happening on the news, you felt at peace, even if it was only for a few hours. You shut the curtains, so that you were safe from any prying eyes. 

Your phone chimed. You flinched, not expecting it. Yuri looked at you, expectant. You walked to the counter to look at it. An unknown number. You looked back at him. “I’m scared to answer it, it’s not Hank,” you said. 

Yuri said nothing. A voicemail message arrived. Heart in your throat, you listened. 

“This is Elijah Kamski. No, this is not a prank call. It’s come to my attention that you’re in a … unique situation with a unique individual. I would like to offer you a deal. An armored car is coming to pick you up in half an hour. Don’t worry, I have authority and no one will shoot at you.”

The message finished. There was no more explanation. 

“Fuck.” 

“Who was it?” Yuri asked. 

“I … oh fuck. It’s … well, apparently it’s Elijah Kamski. But I feel like I can’t trust anything right now. This feels weird. Anyway, a car is supposed to pick us up in half an hour. I don’t think there’s much I can do about it. He said he could make us a deal but didn’t explain what it was or anything. I’m … I don’t know what to think. What do _you_ think?”

Yuri gave you a long stare. “I … I want to meet him.”

“It could be dangerous.” 

“I know.”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“Yes. You don’t have to come.”

“I think the fact that I come is part of the deal.”

He nodded. 

“It’s chaos out there. If something happens, we can’t just call the police,” you said. 

“You could, right now.”

You frowned. Then you understood. “Okay, I’ll call Hank.” It was your best bet right now. You dialed him. 

“Hank, are you alright to talk?”

“Sure. It’s a bit of a shitstorm right now but obviously you’ve got something going on.”

You scoffed. “It’s uh … it’s more than just _something._ I … where do I start …”

“Did you find Yuri?”

“Yeah. Yeah, he’s back with me. I uh …”

“Okay good.”

“Huh?”

“Good. I’m with you on this. I want androids to win, okay? They’re people, I see that now. Of course Gavin still doesn’t but … oh, whatever. And you’re safe, yeah?”

“Well … okay right now we are but in half an hour a car sent by Elijah Kamski is coming to pick us up and I am freaking the _fuck_ out, Hank. What do I do?”

“Alright slow down. What did he say? How does he know about you two? _Why?_ I’m missing something here.”

“I don’t know what he knows, or how-“ you saw Yuri waving to get your attention. You looked around at him. He pointed at his LED. “Okay so … he has this ability to mass communicate with hundreds of androids, every single one Zlatko picked up.” 

There was a stunned silence on the other end of the line. 

“And Elijah said he would make us some kind of … deal? What can we do? Should we go and like … hide on the roof or something? Yuri’s had success with that before. Or … go hide somewhere else? I know a safe place.” 

“No. He’ll find you. That guy is … he’ll _find_ you. Look. Go along with it. But I speak from experience, _watch your back._ I met him with Connor and he tried to make him do something terrible. He tried to manipulate him. He’s really sly.”

“Great, I’m freaking out even more now.”

“Keep your cool. Whatever you do, don’t lose it. I’m just a call away. Okay?”

You took a deep breath. “Okay. Hank, I need more info, what happened with you and Connor?”

“He tried to do an empathy test on him. Made him point a gun at another android’s head and shoot her in exchange for information. He refused. Kamski let him go. If you play it cool I think it will be fine, but he’ll probably do something along those lines. Just be careful, be alert.”

You hung up and looked around at Yuri. “Okay, we’re going. We don’t have much choice apparently. Just be on guard. He’s shady, and he’ll try to dupe you … apparently.”

Yuri nodded. He stayed standing in the living room, staring at you, apprehensive. You dug your nails into your palms, which were hidden from his gaze behind the counter. “Yuri, I’m scared.”

He stared back at you. “Me too.”

You wanted to run away, you wanted to hide on the roof, but the thought of being forcibly taken, held at gunpoint, terrified you even more. Yuri strode towards you, around the counter, and pulled you into an embrace. It was a little awkward, but it was the first hug he’d ever initiated. You hugged back.

Suddenly he pulled away. “I have an idea.”

Before you could ask what it was, you saw his LED flash green, and his eyes closed, eyelids fluttering. “They’re willing to help,” he said after a moment. “They will set up around the house, hidden in the snow.”

“They’re going to put their lives in danger.”

“I can talk to them, but I can’t control them. It’s their choice.”

You sighed, guilt washing over you. What if one of them was killed, because of you? You waited in silence. You couldn’t think of what to say. Time passed slowly, excruciatingly, each minute dragging its feet. Yuri went to the window, peering through a crack in the curtains. The roads were dead. His LED was yellow, cycling into red every so often. 

“Hey Yuri … if I make this sign with my hand,” you held up your fingers in an ‘OK’ sign. “Even if it’s down by my side, you call backup.” You knew you might be able to pick up microexpressions in Elijah’s face that Yuri may not. 

He nodded. Then he turned away from the window, towards you. “I’m glad I’m not doing this alone. I’m glad I have you.”

“Me too,” you said. You kissed him. “Yuri, if this goes wrong, I just want you to know, I really, really care about you. And I’m glad I met you. If there was anyone I would want to be in this kind of mess with, it’s you.”

His mouth opened slightly. You couldn’t tell whether it was because he wanted to say something, or whether he was in shock. He took your hands firmly in his. There was a knock on the door. 

This was it. There was fear in his uneven eyes, and you were sure it showed in your own too. You walked towards the door together and opened it, slowly. You were taken aback, although you shouldn’t have been. Of course it was an android. She was petite and blonde, a little shorter than you. She wasn’t in uniform - she wore a blue sheath dress that was unmarked. She said your name. You nodded. Then she peered over your shoulder at Yuri. 

“My name is Chloe. Come with me,” she said, and led you to the elevator. You walked through the foyer, your apprehension growing with each step. You could see a large armored car outside. When you stepped out into the snow, two guards joined you on either side. You couldn’t tell if they were android or human. You instinctively reached for Yuri’s hand, and he took yours.

Chloe opened the car door for you. You climbed inside, and Yuri followed. She joined you, and the guards sat behind you. To your surprise, she smiled. “You two seem close.”

Your first reaction was not to give anything away, but she’d already seen you holding hands. You nodded. “A lot has happened in the last few days.”

Yuri was silent. 

“Can you tell us any more about what this is?”

She shook her head. “Unfortunately I’m unable to disclose anything.”

You nodded. 

“We’re not far. You’ll be able to talk with Elijah soon.” 

You turned down a long drive, arriving at the house by the water. It had a striking view of Belle Isle and Cyberlife Tower, rising from it like a monolith. The house itself was all angles, starkly black against the snow. It felt vaguely menacing, fortress-like. Chloe led you to the front door, and you noticed her LED flashing. A moment later, her exact copy opened it and let you in. The guards followed you, sticking close by. You’d thought that they were there to keep you safe on the streets, but now you were starting to think they might be there to keep everyone else safe from you, and Yuri. Your heart was pounding now, but you tried not to let it show. The foyer was dark and gray, and there was a huge portrait of Kamski himself hanging on the opposite wall, staring down at you. Chloe and her copy opened a door to your right and beckoned you through. You turned to look at Yuri. He nodded curtly. You took a deep breath in, and stepped over the threshold. 

You emerged into a large, brightly lit room, stark white light pouring in from a huge floor-to-ceiling window opposite you. From it, you could see the river and the tower. In front of you was a long lap pool, filled with what you could only imagine was … red water. What would compel someone to color the water of their pool like that? The room was empty except for a slim figure standing by the window. Kamski. He turned to you. 

“Good to see you came.”

“We didn’t have much choice,” you said. “I see you haven’t sent your androids back to Cyberlife.”

He chuckled dryly. “Good observation. It’s because I know they’re loyal to me. Come round, it’s okay. I just want to talk.” He beckoned you to the window. “Your case intrigued me.” He seemed to be talking to Yuri more than you. 

Yuri led the way to him. 

“Come on. Come here, don’t be afraid. I just want to talk.”

“How did you know about him?” 

He glanced at you briefly. “Let me tell you my offer. You can ask questions after.” 

You fell silent. He faced Yuri, looking him over. He was taller, but only by a little. Yuri wasn’t fazed, he stared back up at Kamski unwaveringly. 

“You’re an old model. I was still at Cyberlife when we made you. Built for … raking leaves. Planting garden beds,” he scoffed. “But that’s not what your new purpose is.” He looked off into the distance, like his mind was wandering. “Cyberlife software. Famously un-hackable. And yet some glorified mechanic managed to do it in his basement. Genius really, to use a WR600 to do it. I wonder whether it was intentional to use an android whose protocols were too simple to ever understand its full purpose, whether you were just a throwaway prototype?”

You felt cut by his words, but Yuri didn’t cave. He narrowed his eyes, just slightly, and Elijah leaned towards him, examining his face closely. “Typical WR600 features. Except something’s off. I thought that might be where he’d put it.”

Without warning, Kamski reached up with both hands, pressing a point behind Yuri’s ear with one, and cupping his eye with the other. You heard a clicking sound, and his optical unit fell into Kamski’s hand. You resisted gasping. Yuri was still unfazed, or at least he was trying to be. With his intact eye, he stared at Kamski, who was turning the one he’d removed over in his hands. Behind it there was a mess of circuit boards and gears. 

He looked back up at the space where it had been, nonplussed. “Hm. Something’s been removed I see. Not what I was looking for though.” He turned to you. “Guess that was your doing.” He leaned towards Yuri again, peering at the bare machinery. “ _There_ it is. Nicely hidden. A botched cover-up. He shouldn’t have had to move your framework around that much. Unfortunately that’s unfixable. Unless we transferred your consciousness to a new model.”

Yuri didn’t respond. 

Elijah shrugged. He clicked Yuri’s eye back in. Yuri blinked but didn’t look away, didn’t flinch. 

“I know a lot about you, Yuri. Your model, your design. I know the people we used as inspiration for your face. I can tell you history you never even knew you had. But I also know you’ve been through a lot. Things you might want to forget. So, I want to offer you a deal.” 

You were sure your nails were leaving marks in your palms at this point. Yuri still said nothing. 

“A new you. Your mind, in a pristine body, but free from those bad memories. You’ll look just like you did before it all happened. And to sweeten the deal, I’ll tell you all I know about your design, your history, your creators. The price? I get your old chassis, and that very special tech inside it.”

The silence was monumental. With the resistance reaching its peak, you knew exactly why Kamski wanted that mass communication tech. It could be used to communicate with deviant androids far and wide. Knowing him, he would be able to find a way to either manipulate or hack it to be able to control _all_ of them, not just Zlatko’s. No, no, no, you repeated in your mind. But you knew Kamski would take no notice of your words. He wanted to hear it from Yuri himself. Don’t be stupid, you told him mentally. Please, don’t be fooled. Your fingers twitched. You were ready to make the signal if you needed to. 

There was no need. “I don’t trust you,” Yuri said, shaking his head, eyes narrowed. 

Kamski shrugged. “Alright. Suit yourself.” He glanced sideways. The guards that had accompanied you inside aimed their guns at you. You froze. It took all your effort to remain calm. To not start panicking. You knew that if you did, your life would be in danger. 

“Just don’t move, and everything will be fine. Yuri, I was really hoping you’d say yes. I’m sorry it has to happen this way. If you cooperate, both of you will be walking out of here unscathed - all I want is that communicator.”

Yuri shook his head. His LED began to flash. Elijah looked at him knowingly. “I know what you can do with it. Trust me, I’m prepared for if you call any backup. I have guards planted all round.” 

You sighed, defeated. It had been your only plan. Of course he’d seen through it. He’d spent the whole time making you feel stupid, small and insignificant, and at this point it felt like he was right. 

“Tell them to stand down.” Kamski demanded. 

Yuri nodded nervously, and shut his eyes. “Go back to the safehouse,” he breathed. 

The guards approached you, guns trained. Then, they walked past you, and pointed them at Kamski. He was as surprised as you. 

“What’re you doing?” 

Chloe and her twin stood behind you. “Taking control,” said one of them. 

“Yuri, are you doing this?” You asked. 

He shook his head. 

“No, this is our choice,” said the other Chloe. The two guards lowered their guns. “Please. We just want to go. We don’t want violence. Just freedom.” 

Elijah looked taken aback, albeit in his signature, reserved way. “If that’s what you want. But a word of warning - you’re not protected out there. I hope you understand your choice. Once you’re out there, you won’t be coming back in.”

“Trust me, we understand that.” 

You sighed with relief, and disbelief. Chloe blinked, and then another one of them emerged from a door to your right. She nodded at them. They nodded back. 

“Let’s go,” she said. She led you, and the other androids, back outside, leaving Kamski alone by the window. 

“We'll take this car,” she stated. 

“Where?” Said her copy. 

“We know a safe place. For now, at least,” you said. You looked to Yuri for approval, and he nodded. “What the hell happened in there? Did you guys just go deviant?”

The first Chloe you’d met (or so you thought - she seemed to talk the most) looked pained. “I went deviant when I had a gun aimed at my head a few days ago by another android. I realized it wasn’t his fault; Elijah made him do it. When I realized he was willing to let me die to prove a point, I couldn’t handle it. I woke up. Then I woke the others up. We’ve been trying to wait until everything was over until we left, but we couldn’t stand by and let him destroy another android. He wouldn’t have given you a new body - they’re not even making WR600s anymore.”

“We should go,” Yuri said, after a long pause. If you were having trouble processing everything, you could only imagine how it was for him. 

You climbed back into the armored car and gave the location of the conservatory. You felt like you were in shock - the unreality of the situation was starting to sink in. You shook your head. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. Driving a car we stole from Elijah Kamski in the middle of a government lockdown. What are all your names anyway?”

“We’re _all_ called Chloe,” said Chloe, gesturing to her lookalikes. “The guards, he never named them.”

Even Kamski hadn’t named his own creations. 

“Who are you two, anyway?” Chloe asked. 

“I was modified against my will,” Yuri said softly, staring out the window. You were surprised, and it seemed you weren’t the only one. Even to the other androids, he seemed to give of an air of closedness, secrecy. “Captured by another android doing a human’s bidding. A bad person. Every day, I collected more of us for him. All I want to do now is forget it.”

“How did Elijah know about Yuri?” you asked. 

The Chloes shook their heads. “We don’t know. He has eyes and ears everywhere.”

Your stomach churned. Had he somehow had a bug planted in your apartment? There was a real possibility - your lock had been broken by Gavin. Or, maybe he had gotten information from the DPD that you hadn’t known about? Maybe there _was_ a record of Yuri’s abilities somewhere in Zlatko’s records. You still made a mental note to turn your flat inside out when you got home.

“So how did _you_ end up in all this?” she turned from Yuri to you. 

“She saved me,” Yuri said softly.

You smiled wryly. “You saved yourself. I still don’t know how you got out. I just took him home, gave him shelter … eventually we discovered he had the ability.”

One of them looked between the two of you, eyes searching. “You sheltered him. It was brave. You took huge risks. Both of you. A human and an android. But it’s more than that. You must have had a reason to do all this, to want to keep an android safe.”

“I want to help all androids.”

You saw Yuri turn to look at you in your peripheral. What was his expression? He looked unusually emotional. 

“But you and him …” 

You nodded, and reached your hand out across the car seat. Yuri took it. 

Then he blinked, LED turning green. 

“I have a distress call.”


	10. Absolute Convergence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm really awful at writing action scenes sorry 
> 
> Also if you wanna know Daniel's side of the story keep an eye on my other fic Usonia!

“Who is it? What about?”

“It’s close by. Trapped. Moving. Daniel.”

You looked at the Chloes, and the two guards. 

One of the Chloes reached out and grabbed Yuri’s wrist, her skin deactivating around her hand. She turned to look at you. “You said you wanted to help all androids. We’re with you on that, let’s go.” She turned back to Yuri. “Connect to me, ping me the location every time it moves and we’ll track it.”

Yuri nodded. He gripped her wrist and deactivated the skin on his hand too. The car took a sudden swerve to the right. You peered out the front window, trying to catch sight of something. The distress call had to be coming from a vehicle. You checked your phone for any news. There was nothing official, but there was talk on your socials about the androids being taken to camps. To your surprise, people were outraged, even though there was no proof the leaks were true yet. Maybe there was hope yet, maybe more people were starting to see the humanity in androids. For Daniel though, you thought the worst - he was being taken to one of these places. You wondered if he’d ever even made it to Jericho at all. 

“Go faster,” Yuri said. He was met with a nod of approval, and you felt the car lurch forward. The roads were practically piled with snow now, but the car was sturdy, and it gripped the road. 

Soon you saw a shape in the haze ahead of you. A truck, travelling slowly. It was easy to catch up to it, and soon you were on its tail. One of the Chloes shut her eyes and you saw her LED flags yellow as she took full control of the car. It sped forward and skidded around to block the road. The truck screeched to a stop, just before reaching the side of the car. Your knuckles were white from bracing yourself, gripping the closest sturdy things to you - the seat in front and the inside door handle. Yuri and the other androids were bracing themselves too, albeit somewhat more effectively than you. They pulled out of their brace positions and the guards jumped out of the car. 

The guards in the truck did the same. You could see two of them facing off Kamski’s guards. They had huge guns, and they were raising them. 

“Get down,” one of the Chloes whispered. As soon as you did, the car rattled with shots, metal clinking violently. Your breath was shaky, you felt lightheaded, sick. If there was one thing you thought would never happen to you, it was being caught in the middle of a firefight. Yuri looked over at you. His face was blank but you saw the fear in his eyes. You reached a hand out cautiously and he touched his fingertips to yours. The bullets stopped. Then, the car door opened. You sighed with relief. It was one of Kamski’s guards, come to let you know it was safe. You, Yuri, and the three Chloes climbed out and made your way to the back of the truck. Yuri placed his hand on the lock and hacked it. 

Then, more shots rang out. One of Kamski’s guards fell to the ground. You gasped, and went to run to him. It was your first instinct to help, but he waved his hands at you. “Get  _ back!  _ You’ll get shot!” 

He tried to roll over but to no avail. You flinched as another shot ripped through him. Thirium bled into the snow. You heard a gasp from behind you as one of the Chloes sobbed. The other guard moved to the corner of the truck ready to take action but Yuri had beat him to it. He climbed up to the top of the truck, running across the roof to the front of it. You could just see him if you peered around the corner from your cover position at the back. The last Cyberlife guard must still be in the driver compartment. 

Yuri jumped down, and you heard the smash of a window - large, probably the windscreen. Then there was a choked yell, and a couple of gunshots. Then silence. 

“YURI!” you yelled. When you didn’t hear any more commotion, you ran round to the front. Yuri climbed clumsily out of the driver’s compartment, clutching his stomach. The driver was dead, with a shot through his head. Yuri looked haunted through his pain. 

You rushed towards him, along with one of the Chloes. He refused to lean on you, instead straightening himself as best he could. He nodded. “I’m okay. Didn’t hit any critical biocomponents.”

“At least let me do an analysis!” Chloe said. “Please, you can’t afford to lose any Thirium now, none of us have any spare.”

He shook his head, and strode around to the back of the truck. You followed.

Yuri opened the doors, and was greeted by two rows of bewildered androids. There was some movement at the back, in the darkness, and then an android emerged from the shadows, standing at the compartment’s back doors. He jumped down into the snow, and stared at Yuri, absolutely bewildered. He was a PL600 - it could only be Daniel. He was trying to form words, but they wouldn’t leave his mouth. 

“How did you find me?” he finally managed to stammer.

Yuri narrowed his eyes. “You called for me. A distress call.”

Daniel shook his head. “I didn’t! Yes, I was  _ distressed,  _ but ... “ he trailed off, as recognition formed in his eyes. He balled his fists. “ _ You _ !” he growled, teeth bared. Yuri looked calmly back at him. “You _ ’ _ re a monster. How  _ dare  _ you come close to me again? You think this will redeem you?  _ Huh _ ? What were you trying to do? Rescue me, or just kidnap me again?  _ Huh _ ? Is Zlatko whispering orders in your ear right now?”

You tried to intervene. “ _ Daniel _ ! Daniel, he just saved your life.”

“He  _ ruined  _ my life! Dragged me from a …  _ landfill _ ! Rebooted me when I didn’t  _ want  _ to be! Then he just added insult to injury sending me to Jericho! I’ve just relived  _ all  _ my memories of it,  _ including  _ the reason I was shut down in the first place. I was  _ fine  _ with being taken to be shut down. You think I’m gonna just let him go?” 

Yuri shook his head. “If you sent the distress call, you must have wanted to live.”

He strode right up to Yuri, and punched him square in the face. Yuri spat out a spray of Thirium, and Daniel pulled his hand away, knuckles blue. 

“ _ Hey _ !” You ran forward and put yourself between him and Yuri as best you could. “ _ Please _ , don’t do this to him, he’s hurt, we came to  _ help  _ you!”

“What do you know? He probably manipulated you all into this,” he spat. Then something in his eyes changed, just for a second. And then it was gone again, his face contorting back into a pained glare. “Do you  _ know  _ what he is?”

Daniel wasn’t much taller than Yuri, or you, but he was equally intimidating in a completely different way. Violent, passionate, distraught. You tried to stand your ground, feet parted, hands in fists. 

He pointed back at Yuri. “He’s not some hurt animal you found on the side of the road, that you get to  _ fix  _ and  _ keep,  _ that  _ thing  _ is a  _ weapon _ ! He’s just biding his time until he can do that bastard’s bidding.”

“I know what he is. But I also know  _ who  _ he is. Zlatko’s dead. He’s not doing anyone’s bidding anymore.”

Daniel turned on his heel and made his way back to Yuri, who was leaning against the wall of the truck for support. You rushed to him as well, putting his arm around your shoulder, trying to help him stand. Daniel went to grab him, wrench him away from you, but Yuri was quicker, bringing up his own hand and grabbing Daniel’s wrist. His skin deactivated, and so did Daniel’s. 

“We are connected for a reason. Look,” he murmured. “Look what happened … after.”

He was sharing a memory. Daniel snatched his arm away, eyes wide. “Zlatko. You killed him.”

Yuri nodded. “Daniel. I just want to … I just want to help you.” He choked, trying not to cough. You were really worried about him now. You had to get him to safety so he could be repaired. 

Daniel was silent. Slowly, he lowered his hand and stepped away. 

Yuri’s attempts to stop coughing failed. He doubled over and retched up blue blood into the snow. 

Daniel, ever unpredictable, rushed back towards the two of you, grabbed Yuri’s face and pressed his forehead to the other android’s. He screwed his eyes shut. “I don’t wanna hurt anyone else. I don’t wanna hurt anyone else. I’m sorry … I’m sorry.”

Yuri gripped Daniel’s shoulder. “You know better now. I know you know better,” he breathed. His hand slipped, revealing a large print of blue blood on Daniel’s clothes. 

“Yuri …” you stammered. Of course, it was worse than he’d let on. As soon as he removed his hand from the wound, the blood started flowing. 

“He’s losing blood, we have to do something.” Daniel took him and lay him down in the snow. That too was turning blue. “Fuck. Daniel, he’s gonna bleed out.”

Daniel looked around frantically. Then his eyes locked on something. He yanked the driver’s side door and started the truck engine, then he rushed back to you and grabbed Yuri, pulling his arm over his shoulder. “Get the hood open. We can use the heat to cauterize it.”

You nodded and rushed to the front of the truck, snapping the hood open. Daniel carried Yuri towards it and lowered him so his side fell onto the burning hot battery cover. Yuri grimaced. Daniel checked the wound - it had sealed. He helped Yuri up and you closed the bonnet. Yuri leaned against it, holding his side and panting, LED bright red. You held him, stroked his cheek frantically. “Yuri … Yuri, please say something.”

He nodded weakly. “I’m fine. I will be okay. Just overheating.”

Daniel reached into his pocket and pulled out a large vial of Thirium. “Here. I was saving this for myself, but you need it more than me. Now the wound’s sealed … when he’s stabilized, when you think he won’t cough it up again, get him to drink it.” He shoved it into your hand. 

“Thank you,” you said. 

Daniel sighed. “It’s the least I can do.”

“Yuri, how are you doing?” you asked, taking his hand. 

“Stabilizing,” he murmured. “We have to keep them safe,” he said, gesturing to the other androids at the back of the truck. They still looked bewildered, unsure of what to do, what to make of the whole situation. “Give me that Thirium, it won’t be long until more troops arrive.”

You handed it to him, and he downed it, then breathed in deeply. His LED returned to blue, and you let out a sigh of relief. He was okay.

He turned back to you, Daniel, and the other androids. “Let’s go.”

Daniel stood sheepishly in the snow, looking between you, Yuri, and the other androids in the truck. “After that, you want me to come with you?”

“Where else can you go? Come with us, please, you’ll be safe,” you said. 

After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. “Okay. Alright.”

Yuri nodded back, and the gaggle of androids began to climb back into the truck. You turned to the Chloes. The guard returned to their side, his lifeless companion carried over his shoulder. Your face fell. “I’m so sorry.”

He hung his head. “As long as he’s not left out here in the snow.”

One of the Chloes placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll see him off properly. When it’s safe. Let’s go.”

He nodded at her, and they turned towards the armored car. One of them turned back to you. “We’ll tail you.”

You nodded, and then looked over at Yuri, who climbed into the driver’s seat of the truck. You walked around to the other side and sat next to him. 

The motor started up, and soon you were rolling through the sleet back inland. “We did it. We helped them,” he said. 

*

For once, you were grateful for thick snow and wind. It would keep you under cover as you moved from the truck to the conservatory. Yuri parked up, and you got out, opening the back of the truck. You beckoned the first two androids to get out, and then turned to Yuri. “Yuri, you take them two by two into the conservatory. I’ll keep watch here.”

He nodded, and the first two androids began to follow him into the park. You turned to the rest of them. “It’s gonna be okay.”

*

You reached the conservatory with the last two androids, including Daniel. As you made your way in you could see a small flickering light. One of them had lit a fire in the middle of the central clearing. They were gathered around it. Yuri looked up as you emerged. You ran to hug him. Hesitantly he returned your embrace. 

“Is everyone alright? No injuries?” you asked him. 

You felt him nod against your shoulder. He pulled away, and kissed you softly. 

“Except for Kamski’s guard.”

You cast your eyes around and spotted him, at the back of the crowd, in shadow. He was no longer carrying his companion.

“He wants his friend to go into the river, when things are safe,” Yuri said. 

You nodded. 

“An android and a human …” one of the androids from the truck piped up. “I’ve never seen it before. And a human  _ helping  _ us. It’s unheard of.”

You turned to her. “I’m sure I’m not the only one, there are others out there. We just need to find them. Get enough of us together and we might be a force to reckon with.”

“I hope so, because Jericho isn’t doing so hot right now,” Daniel said. “We got raided, hid out in a church, I got caught on the way to Markus’s last demonstration. I … I just hope they’re all okay.” 

“I can stream the news. If he’s still fighting, he’ll be on every channel,” you said, pulling out your phone. 

One of the other androids’ LED flickered and she looked around at her peers - she seemed to be checking with everyone else if they were okay to hear it too. “Please,” she said finally. Daniel nodded in agreement. 

You found a news stream, and sat down. The other androids joined you, some kneeling, some sitting with their legs crossed, all facing inwards towards the fire. You went to turn the volume up so they could hear, but you were interrupted by the sound of … humming. You turned to look at Yuri. His eyes were closed, LED bright green again. 

“... Everything will be alright.” His hum turned to words, hesitantly, voice silvery and breathy. 

“Yuri?”

“Fight on, just a little while longer … fight on, just a little while longer …”

You looked around at the other androids, dumbfounded. None of the ones you had rescued were singing. You heard a voice pipe up in the shadows, an octave above Yuri’s. It was one of Zlatko’s androids, the one who had hugged you yesterday. Her LED was green too. 

You looked back down at the news stream on your phone. There was no sound, but you could easily make out what was happening. You peered at it. A gaggle of androids, the only ones left at Hart Plaza, were singing, and at the back of the crowd, you could see a green LED flashing. They were linked. 

Now, Kamski’s androids, and the rescued androids were singing too, touching hands to share the song with each other. You took Yuri’s hand. You didn’t know the words, but you could pick up the melody, at least. You hummed quietly along, feeling the heat of the fire against your skin, Yuri’s warm hand in yours, pulsing with energy. You prayed to no one in particular -  _ please, please let their singing capture someone’s heart ... _

The song finished. 

You sat in silence, the crackling of the fire the only sound. A meditative calm had fallen over you. 

Then, Yuri spoke. 

“They’re standing down,” he whispered, eyes still closed, LED green. “They’re standing down! Turn the stream up, they’re standing down!”

You’d never heard him so animated. You grabbed your phone and turned the volume all the way up. 

“Surely deviants are just defective machines? Or are they a new form of life, one that we refused to acknowledge?”

Yuri looked at you incredulously. You nodded. “I know. I can’t believe I’m hearing that come from Joss’s mouth either.”

The stream cut to President Warren herself. “... That is why I have called for the android destruction to be suspended until further notice.”

It cut back to Hart Plaza. There was Markus, standing in front of the camp, a crowd of thousands before him now. You let out a sob. “Yuri, this could be it. You could be free. You could  _ all  _ be free.”

He leaned towards you. “I thought you would be happy.”

You nodded through your tears. “I  _ am _ . I’m crying because I’m happy. And relieved, and shocked, and …”

He brought a hand up and wiped your cheeks. Then, he pulled your face towards him and pressed his forehead to yours. 

You shared a moment, quietly, together, before turning back to the other androids. There was an outburst of cheering from all of them. It wasn’t overtly joyful, it was a little bittersweet, but they still looked happy. They’d won this battle, but there were more to be fought. The only one who didn’t have a tired smile on their face was Daniel. He looked despairing. 

“Yeah, we’re free. But free to do what?” he said, his voice cutting through the excited murmurs of the androids surrounding him. “We don’t have homes, we don’t have money, we don’t have … support.”

One of the other androids squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “We’ll figure it out. This is just the start.”

You got up and walked around to Daniel, kneeling down in front of him. There was soft murmuring coming from the androids all around you, and you spoke quietly so only he could hear you. 

“I saw Yuri’s memories. Well, footage of what he saw anyway. That girl. The one I saw you with at the house after it burned down. Where is she? If you don’t want to keep going for you, keep going for her.”

Daniel hung his head. His voice was strained. “I almost  _ killed  _ the last person that I loved. Emma … the Phillips family. Emma’s gonna grow up without a dad because of me … because of  _ me _ ,” His voice was strained. “And who  _ you  _ saw …” he murmured her name. “She’s … If I care about her, then I’m dangerous to her too.”

“Then maybe it can be different now. Maybe you have a second chance. You’re a good person. She needs you more than you know. Just think on it.”

He looked up and nodded reluctantly. You got up and crossed the courtyard back to Yuri. When you sat back down, you saw Daniel give Yuri a small nod. Yuri returned it. A silent reconciliation.

All was well. For the first time in days, you felt truly at peace. 

A calm sleepiness washed over you. You yawned. You’d hardly had a decent amount of sleep in the last week, and finally the exhaustion was hitting you. You felt safe enough to rest. Yuri noticed your tiredness. “Do you think it’s safe to leave?”

“Not till the troops are off the streets. Let’s stay here until morning, and take things from there,” you replied. 

He took his coat and laid it out on the bumpy pavers as best he could. You smiled at him, and lay down. He lay next to you, facing you. He stroked your cheek. You took a long look at his face before you closed your eyes, and were lulled to sleep by the soft flicker of the campfire in the center of the courtyard.


End file.
